Salvation: The Learning, Part II
by Neon Black - SMS
Summary: SatAM: Seven years after the devastating struggle against Robotnik and Naugus, the residents of Mobius inch closer to a sense of normalcy under the rule of Nicole - until one well-timed murder threatens to destroy any remaining hope of peace.
1. Day Zero, Part One

**_A Quick Foreword:_**

_This story is a sequel to the original Learning, and is thusly set in an expanded version of Sonic SatAM lore. There are some very, very light instances of characters borrowed from outside of the SatAM canon, as well as a heavy dose of original content. There will be political themes, though I don't intend for this to be a political drama. There will be romance, though I don't intend on this to be a romance fic, and there will be violence though I don't intend it to be violent etc. It's just me escaping to my own little world and exorcising my demons, which of course you're welcome to partake in as well, if you consider it worth your time._

_Newcomers to this story will probably be able to figure out the background as they go, but to best understand the context of this fable I'd highly recommend reading The Learning first, which is available in its entirety in PDF form at this location: _

sandandmercury-net/satam/thelearning-pdf

_(You'll have to replace the dashes with full-stops, seems the website doesn't allow hyperlinking in story texts. You can also read the original here on ffnet, though it is an obsolete version with the last chapter missing)_

_With some (temporary) time off work at the moment, I'm in a happy position to sink a great deal of time into continuing this, so I'd like to welcome your feedback! I'm very grateful for all the encouragement and constructive criticism people offered when I published the original Learning which has left me feeling like the whole experience was worthwhile and something to be proud of._

_I'd also like to extend a grateful acknowledgement to DeborahHedgehog of the Saturday Morning Sonic forums, for her support and inspiring me to revisit this universe. Happy reading!_

**~ SALVATION ~**

**The Learning, Part II**

** -= Day Zero, Part One =-**

** I. To Peace and Unity**

Present day. Seven years after the war. Eighteen years after the coup.

"It's not the weather in itself that bothers me," Nicole, Queen of Mobius South, spoke as she strode down the halls of the now-refurbished Castle Acorn.

"May I ask what it is then, that bothers you?" The coyote at her side asked. His name was Antoine Depardieu, Captain of the Royal Guard.

"It bothers me that everyone seems to take it as some kind of omen. It seems there is an air of doom hanging over my head now. People are thinking that my announcement today will signal the end of the world as we know it. It won't be that way."

"For all our sakes, I am hoping not." He gazed at the floor absently as he walked, looking at his own reflection in the marble, plucking at the buttons on his uniform.

Nicole stopped and looked at him with a smirk. "Are you doubting me?"

"Wha?" Antoine shot up ramrod straight, and saluted her. "No, no your Highness. Not at all. I am having nothing but the most absolute faith in your abilities to-"

"Hah!" She clapped him on the back, with a giggle. "Your accent comes out every time you're worried about me, Antoine."

Antoine smiled weakly. "You remind me so much of the princess, sometimes, your Highness."

She rested a hand on his shoulder and smiled, saying nothing. Then she turned and kept walking, towards the Council Chamber. "Just have a little faith in me. In seven years, I haven't disappointed you, have I?"

The coyote stood for a moment and looked on after her. Her regal, purple summer attire flowing like water around her shoulders as she walked. A meter of jet black hair trailing behind as if to defy the laws of gravity. For an android, in the form of a feline, there was no doubt about her beauty. It was strange to him to think, that as he'd grown older, she had stayed the same. Maybe he'd grow old and grey one day, and she'd still be the same.

Outside, the sky was the shade of slate, Mobius South pine trees swaying violently in the near gale-force winds, under a ceaseless barrage of rain. He remembered, that every tumultuous period in his life had seemed to start with a storm. Be it from the clouds and the rain, or a hail of laser fire from an army of SWATbots. Always a storm.

They stopped at the door, and Nicole gave him a nod as she entered. Antoine turned and stood at the door, ever watchful.

* * *

A mile away, a solitary figure cut a path through the pouring rain.

Tough leather boots pounding hard, slippery concrete. Gauging the distance to the next jump. Ten meters. Two meters. Jump.

He vaulted through the air. One more building down. The city lights of Mobotropolis appeared and disappeared below. He watched the droplets of rain smacking and shattering against his legs in slow motion as a flash of lightning exploded across the sky. The next rooftop came up fast. He hit the concrete hard and fast, rolled and hopped over an air conditioning unit, kept running. The dome of Castle Acorn loomed - just a few more minutes, and he'd be there.

He pulled his leather hood down tight around his face, and readied himself for the next jump. He lunged, and the ground beneath his feet disappeared again. He held out his hands and found the sturdy pole of a clothesline - and he swung, vaulted again. Started running again. Almost there.

The tiny speaker in his ear crackled to life, barely audible above the howling wind. "You close yet?"

"Close," he growled. But he was pushing it. "Are they under the dome?"

"Should be," the voice said again. He pushed his finger to his earpiece, trying to block out the cacophony of the storm around him. "That's the Council Chamber. You need to hurry up, you're almost out of time."

"I know." He hadn't counted on the rain restricting his movement so much. He knew he was pushing it, but if he didn't let up, he'd make it.

As he ran, he remembered. Snippets of old memories about this city, from the glory days, hammered into his head. The place had changed a lot. But there was no time to think about that.

He reached for his leg holsters, with each hand, producing a grappling hook in one hand and a crescent-shaped dagger in the other. There was one thing to do. And that was what he'd do.

No time.

* * *

When Nicole entered the council chamber, they were already waiting for her. She sat down gingerly at the end of the table, running a brief diagnostic on each of them.

SUBJECT 1: IDENTITY CONFIRMED: LORD CHRISTOF - BROTHERHOOD OF THAMAEL - 26TH & CURR. GRANDMASTER: SPECIES GOAT

SUBJECT 2: UNKNOWN: UNIFORM INDICATES BROTHERHOOD OF THAMAEL: SPECIES BOAR

SUBJECT 3: UNKNOWN: UNIFORM INDICATES BROTHERHOOD OF THAMAEL: SPECIES RACCOON

"Lovely day for it, wouldn't you say?" Christof said from his seat.

Like his two companions, he donned a suit of impeccably crafted black leather armour, the breast bearing the six-pointed star of the Brotherhood of Thamael. He'd let his beard grow long, white and wispy. The circles under his eyes were deeper these days than ever, but his gaze held sharp and strong.

"It's an unusual Summer," Nicole laughed. "It used to be worse, before we had the canals built."

The goat smiled. "I'll never get used to this weather you have down here in the 'South." He reached out and picked up a mug of Mobotropilan Mead, a recipe only recently recovered from the old castle archives, and took a hearty sip. "I don't mean to be rude, your Highness, but I'd like to get through this quickly. I haven't budgeted to be here very long, and I'm short on time. So, to the pressing issue."

Nicole nodded. "The treaty."

A single scroll of paper sat in the middle of the table, an inkwell placed next to it.

Nicole looked at the scroll. Christof looked at Nicole. Christof's two assistants looked at each other.

"Have you read the treaty?" Nicole asked.

Christof took another sip of the mead. "I've gone over it multiple times now. It's certainly been a long time coming, my friend."

"Nearly twenty years..." she whispered. A lot had happened in twenty years. A lot of dead buried. "And though it's from before my time, I understand what's happened with our two nations in the past. And I understand if you have some trepidation about any permanent agreements here."

Christof nodded. "It's been... hard, my friend. Very, very hard. The war ten years ago strained things even more, but I know how it all happened. I was there when Naugus came through, and I know it was only thanks to you and yours that we're not all united as slaves under his rule. But..." He leaned back, and sighed. "There's also people on my side of the Great Unknown who don't see things that way. Some who just don't want to let the past go. The Acorn Empire still strikes a bad chord in Trema, I'm sorry to say."

Nicole listened carefully, sitting still. "Yes, that's true. That's one of the reasons for another action I'll be taking. If I may announce the signing of this treaty tonight, I'll also be making another announcement."

The Lord of the Brotherhood raised an eyebrow curiously. "Which is?"

Nicole produced another scroll from the folder in front of her, bearing the royal seal. She slid it over to him.

He held it up, and read carefully, a few times over - it was only a few lines long.

He set it down carefully. "Are you... serious?"

"What does it say?" one of Christof's assistants asked.

Christof turned around slowly. "It says, as of tonight, the Acorn empire will be abolished."

Nicole smiled. "The Monarchy of Mobius South will become the Republic of Mobius South. My title as Queen will default to that of Prime Minister. My term will run three more years, and then I will step down."

"Don't you have a legacy to uphold?" Christof took another swig of mead, and sat the empty mug on the table.

"Any leadership must have regular succession, otherwise the inevitable result will be stagnation. The Acorn bloodline ended with Sally. I'm also aware of the negative connotation the Acorn name has with the North. I'd like this to be a gesture of good faith towards both the North and South. And maybe, one day..." She gave a wistful sigh. "The single nation and continent of Mobius?"

The attire of the Brotherhood that Christof wore, as well as his manner of speaking, had long led many to believe he was a devil wearing goat's skin. But she knew better, after Sonic had told her. Her mouth twitched a bit with the thought of the hedgehog, as it had so many times before. Where could he be, these days?

"I like the sound of that," the goat said, giving a light nod.

Nicole smiled and leaned forward to take the treaty from the table. "I like the sound of it too."

* * *

The hooded figure struck the side of the dome with both feet, dangling precariously by the grappling rope. Arm over arm, he hauled himself up, gritting his teeth against the rain.

He hauled himself up onto the window sill, retracting the hook back into the hand cannon, and peered through the stained glass. "I see them," he said. Four figures, three on one side, one on the other. Queen Nicole, Lord Christof. Excellent. He wiped the sharp blade against his leg. Pulled the hood down. Quick, clean, efficient. He knew what to do. He reached for the lever to open the window.

But there wasn't one. The glass was a foot thick, weather-proof, and set in permanently as part of the structure, just as strong as the ages old brick and mortar that surrounded it.

He took a deep breath. Don't panic. Just punch through the glass. This was his last chance to stop everything. He heaved, hanging off the edge of the window, and swung his fist at the glass as hard as he could.

_Thunk_. Just a dull crack. And it wasn't from the glass.

It took a second before the pain registered. "Aaaaaaagh!" he bit down to cut his scream short, holding onto his shattered wrist.

He turned back to the whipping wind and relentless rain. Took a deep breath. Then another. He looked down. There was no way to do this quietly.

He shakily took the grappling hook out of its holster again, holding both the blade and it in the same hand. Fired a shot above, catching in between two of the hard tiles, and rappelled down the side.

He spied a window below, and vaulted off the side of the building as hard as he could. The window came up fast.

The glass here shattered into a million pieces as he tumbled through, and rolled clumsily to his feet. He'd lost his grace; his arm felt like it was on fire, and the sock of the injury was making his whole body shiver. He did a quick head-check, keeping his hood low over his face; the door to the council chamber had been sealed shut with a steel rod. A royal guard he recognised was in the corner unconscious, bound and gagged.

No time.

Nicole signed her name on the line, and passed the scroll across to Christof.

He pressed the pen to the page, pausing to take a final look at the Queen of the Acorn Empire. "To twenty more years. Of peace..."

"And Unity."

One of Christof's assistants leaned over to speak into his ear. "Not quite."

"Sorry?" Christof turned to look at him.

A blade slid through his ribs from behind. Twisted in his gut. Turned. Wrenched the other way.

"Christof!" Nicole screamed, leaping up onto the table. But the boar was quick as lightning, tackling her clean off the table to crash into one of the large potted plants behind.

Christof looked on at the scene with bewildered surprise, lowering his gaze down to the blade, donning the Brotherhood insignia, which was now protruding awkwardly out the front of his stomach. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out - just a great big gout of blood. He slumped over onto the table, a dark pool spreading out across the polished marble.

"Get off me!" Nicole growled through gritted teeth. She strained and twisted, forcing as much strength as she could into every muscle, but the boar was at least twice her size, and had pinned her fast.

Another blade pressed against the boar's throat from behind, and slit it clean open, the gushing wound saturating Nicole with deep crimson. In the space of ten seconds, the mood had gone from that of a cordial meeting to a slaughterhouse.

The raccoon that had just slain his comrade pulled the corpse off of her, and reached out his hand. "Get up. Quickly."

Nicole took it shakily as he helped her to his feet. "Why did he kill him?" She looked at the boar's prone corpse, fresh torrents of red still pouring from his throat and spreading out across the tiles. Her android brain was working in overdrive, synthetic muscles pumping with adrenalin.

The raccoon looked at her in silence.

"What on Mobius is going on!" she screamed.

He frowned. "I'm sorry, your highness, but it simply had to happen. For the Brotherhood." He took the sword at his side, and brought it to his chest, edging the tip of it in between the two panels of his breast plate. "Xul, take us!"

"No!" Nicole shouted again, lunging forward, but he'd already driven it clean through. He looked at her for a brief, eternal second, before he slumped lifelessly to rest at her feet.

Behind her, the doors burst open. A tall figure stood there, panting, face obscured by his thick black cloak and hood, a crescent-shaped push dagger at his side.

No, he thought. No. No. No.

Nicole instinctively backed up, reaching for the raccoon's body to pull the blade from his chest. If this one was here to take her life as well, he wouldn't be getting it without a fight.

The queen of Mobius South dug her rear foot in, ready to strike. She took a deep breath in, and exhaled slowly. "Show me your face."

The intruder slowly raised a hand to the side of his hood, but stopped half way up. He shook his head, sliding the blade back into its pouch on his leg, turned quickly back to the hall.

"Hey!" the Queen shouted out after the shadow, sprinting forward.

The dark shape took a flying leap at the wall opposite the window, grabbing fast onto one of the empty sconces, and prepared to leap across to the other side, where the rain and wind was now pouring in through a shattered window. He turned to look at her, face still obscured by the dark and the hood, before he vanished from sight.

"Sorry," he said.

Before she could think again, the heavy wooden doors at the opposite end of the hall burst open, a contingent of Castle Acorn guards scrambling through, rifles at the ready.

"Your highness!" the one in the lead, Captain Viktor of the second Guard, lowered his rifle and gasped quietly as he lowered his weapon. "By... the... gods."

Nicole dropped the blade at her side and wrapped her arms around herself, leaning against the wall, shaking and shocked, eyes like saucers.

Christof, leader of Mobius North, lay fallen behind her, eviscerated, with one hand over the peace treaty he had come to sign, with his two compatriots dead right next to him.

And there stood Queen Nicole of the Acorn empire right before the carnage, Brotherhood longblade by her feet, soaked through to the skin with their blood.

**II. Come By, You Have Come Far**

Two years earlier.

Miles 'Tails' Prower leaned back in his chair, looking out over the patio balcony to the mountains of the Duruga landscape. Everything was lush, organic, alien. The tavern's patio overlooked an enormous chasm framed at both sides by the mountain ranges that streched above and below, dwarving every other structure and instilling him with both a dissonant sense of impunity and empowerment. The clouds drifted in layers through the enormous space - the light from the hundreds tiny huts beneath the purple sky of twilight reflecting quietly on the water.

He took a quick glance at his journal, sitting open on the table, an empty glass sitting next to it. It simply read:

_5th year. 44th day. _

_Been three months since Marr went back home. About three years since Sonic left. No food, not much money._

Pressing a pen to the page, he held it there a moment, and lifted it away when he heard a door creaking open inside. He wasn't fond of the idea of recording his thoughts in a place where someone could simply look over his shoulder and be privy to it.

Of course, they wouldn't be able to even understand the language. But even so... you never knew, what others might know.

The steps came closer, outside. One of the barmaids.

"Muh m'ghana?" she said.

Tails stared for a while, yawning. He'd heard the phrase. What did it mean? "Sorry?" he said, reflexively. Old habits died hard.

She sighed exasperatedly, picking up the empty glass in front of him pointing to it. "M'ghana," she said. "Muh m'ghana?"

_Oh. Right. _He scrounged through his pockets of his dirty black pants, pulling out a handful of wooden coins, and holding them out to her with his palm. The maid took what she needed and was back a few moments later with a new sweaty glass full ice-cold... whatever it was. It tasted fruity and bitter as it went down, sparking a dull ache and buzz in the back of his neck. The folks out here in Duruga were different breed to those in the Mobian continent. Shorter, darker-coloured, stockier, less friendly. The local tongues and dialects seemed to change with every settlement he visited, so he'd long since given up hope of learning enough to get him by in his travels.

And after five years since leaving the continent of Mobius... he'd been everywhere. And found nothing - just lost his friends and gotten older, crankier, and tougher. Was he to give up? Would there perhaps be a friendly Brotherhood ship still docked at the harbour where they'd touched down all that time ago, with Marr and Sonic waiting patiently and longingly for his return?

Fat chance.

Not much else to do but keep walking, keep looking, keep charting and recording what he came across along the way. Maybe one day, he'd find himself sitting on the doorstep of his ancestral home, and find a place where he could belong... or at least subsist, long enough to get himself together again, and get ready to find his _real _home.

The sun had almost set. It was time to get moving - travel seemed to work out better at night, here; the populace were well-built, but along with the fauna, their eyesight was apparently not much to root for. That put Tails in a good position, with his kitsune night vision, to make his way along the dirt roads unperturbed for the most part. Even though he had failed to find any accomodation for the last few days, and thus had not slept for at least seventy-two hours.

He picked the journal up and closed it, and slipped it into his pack. When he stood up, he realised a picture had fallen out of it.

It was a holograph of Marr - the lynx from the Brotherhood back in Mobius North, his tutor, his friend, his...

Tails frowned. He pulled the journal back out and opened it to the last entry's page, and wrote one more line:

_Still hurts. Miss home._

He tossed back the last of his beverage, picked up his things and began moving. He was sick to the stomach with hunger but he didn't have enough money to afford a full meal; he consoled himself with the thought that he'd probably be able to pick some of the exotic fruits around the place as he moved. He hadn't seen any of those, now that he thought about it, for quite a few days; the only plentiful kind was some bright blue berries that grew in these parts. And he'd resorted to them enough times to know that they were not worth the severe indigestion and queasiness that they brought for the sake of a meal.

The the air was fresh and moist on the street, not so thick with the tobacco smoke of the tavern. The night had almost fallen but the cluttered streets were still rife with moving bodies of all colours; a cart rolled past him amongst the crowd, carrying a load of bread loaves and tied down only loosely with a sheet of rough staw cloth.

As it passed, he reached out a hand to brush against some of the stock. His clothes were thick and loose, so it would be simple to-

No.

He pulled his hand back, and shoved it back into his pocket. He'd lost enough already on this expedition... his pride and dignity were still intact, and they were worth hanging on to. At least, so far. Looking up, he saw all the hard-set eyes looking at him as he walked, to confirm he'd made a smart choice by refraining - the village was large enough that nary one would recognise another, but even so, it was obvious to these people that he was a stranger.

The clamour and chatter around him began to soften as he neared the outskirts. Which was probably why it was so easy for him to pick out when someone was speaking the Mobian language. It was just a muffled murmur coming from inside one of the cabins. He stopped in the street, not turning his head, to listen. He could pick out some of the common Mobian words. Perhaps it would've been best to keep going. But this was the first instance of someone speaking the same words as he that he'd experienced in nearly a year. Seemed worth checking out.

The house was made of mudbrick, and two floors high; he noted that this was a fair amount larger than the rest. Obviously, it belonged to someone of above-average circumstances. He slowly walked to the door, and gave three quick raps. He waited, and heard the murmuring stop. The light under the door went dark for a moment as a figure came in behind it, and he spied an eye peering through the keyhole.

Then the lights shifted bright again, and he heard the steps moving off, and the talks continuing.

He stepped back, and looked down at himself. He was filthy and he stank of days' worth of accumulated sweat and grease.

_I must look like a beggar straight off the street._

He thought for a moment.

_I am a beggar straight off the street._

It was worth another try. He strolled up to the door again, and gave the door three firm bangs. "Could I please have a moment of your time? I don't mean to intrude," he said through the door. "I won't trouble you long."

The door creaked open. He saw one green eye peering through the crack, belonging to a badger, old and quite a bit shorter than he. "You speak the tongue..."

"I'm a little lost," Tails said, as curtly as possible. "I'm here from across the ocean."

The badger pulled the door open with a faint trace of resignation. "Come in." His voice was quiet and wheezy, like he'd spent the majority of his life with a set of lungs filled with smoke and his larynx had shrivelled like a prune.

"Thank you," he said, stepping in and feeling a little self-conscious to offer his hand in the grotty condition it was in. "I'm sorry to impose on you... but you're the first voice I've heard in a language I know in a long while..."

"Yo!" a voice called from down the hall. "Hey, Morris! Who you got out there?"

Tails froze. That voice. It sounded a little different, a bit weathered. But there was no mistaking it.

"Sonic?" he called out.

He heard the whirlwind of a spin-dash charging up - and a split second later, he was looking at Sonic, along with a pile of loose books and sheets of paper that tumbled off one of the shelves in his wake.

They stared each other up and down for a moment, each feeling a mix of surprise, joy and consternation. Tails had thought about what it would be like to actually see Sonic again after such a long time of being apart. He'd figured it would be pretty much like this.

"Dang, bro." Sonic finally said, scratching behind one ear. "You could use a scrub-down."

* * *

It felt strange to be out of his clothes again after all these years.

When he was just the kit of Knothole, he'd never given it a second thought. None of the Freedom Fighters had bothered much in the way of clothes in the coup days, before they'd come of age. As she'd gotten older, Sally had taken to wearing a vest, and Bunnie and Antoine both took after their late parents' dress customs, but that was about the extent of it. There was nothing vulgar about the appearance of a Mobian sans clothes, but among adult Mobians, it had been something of a sign of social inferiority - as if some may not wear clothes because they did not care for looking decent, or worse - they had not made enough of themselves to afford a set.

But Tails only had one outfit, which was now soaking in a vat of hot, disinfected water. The facilities in this house were quaint and basic, but effective and well-maintained. He certainly felt a lot more fresh, physically and mentally, now that he'd had some time to bathe, but when he stepped out from the bathroom, he walked meekly, wincing at the sound of his naked feet padding on the wooden floorboards.

There was a steaming bowl of soup waiting for him when he entered the lounge.

"Feeling better, big guy?" Sonic asked.

"Mm." Tails sat down in front of the soup, his nose twitching. He'd intended on being polite by waiting a while before he began eating, but the smell was driving him insane. "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure if I caught your name," he said to the badger. "Was it Morris?"

"Morragannahnun," he whispered, nodding slightly. "You don't need to hold back, boy. You look famished." He knew his way around the Mobian dialect, but his Duraga accent was thick in every word.

Tails bowed his head. "I'm very grateful for your hospitality..." He paused for a moment, trying to wrap his tongue around the name. "...sir," he finished.

"And that's why I call him Morris," Sonic chuckled.

Tails took a spoon full of the soup, and indulged in a gentle sip. Then another. His stomach growled with anticipation. He upended the bowl, gulping down great big mouthfuls. It was delicious... something was so familiar about the taste - the way it scorched the roof of his mouth as it went down. Chilli... must've been Sonic's contribution to the recipe. He wolfed it down madly, letting little bits slip out the sides and dribble down his chin.

He put the empty bowl down, realising what he'd done, and shrank back in his seat. "Sorry."

"Why?" Sonic said. "He puts up with those manners from me every day, man!"

The old badger gave a quiet laugh. "That is true." He looked genuine about his amusement, but he also looked tired and strained. If Sonic was living with this fellow, he'd probably end up pushing him into cardiac arrest at some point. "So, this is the boy you were talking about?" he asked, looking to Sonic. "He doesn't look like much of a boy anymore."

The hedgehog gave Tails a quick glance and smirked. "Guess he ain't."

"You didn't tell me he was a kitsune."

Tails frowned.

"Well..." Sonic shifted his gaze between the badger and the vulpine, cupping his hands together, twiddling his thumbs. "I didn't think it mattered..."

"Is there some reason that it should?" Tails asked, feeling the hair on his arms bristling slightly.

"Nothing against you, friend," Morris said. "But your kind are not well-liked around Duruga. They are sophisticated savages. They are brutal, exclusive and racist. But intelligent and extremely talented also, mind you."

Tails' ears pricked up. "There are more kitsune here...!"

Morris smiled sadly. "Oh, dear. No one's told you anything, have they?"

The kitsune shrugged. "Where do they live?"

Sonic leaned back, uncharacteristically quiet.

"Are you intending to make contact with them?" Morris asked, looking over the rims of his reading glasses.

The way he'd asked seemed to explain all the looks that Tails had been getting from the villagers as he'd been travelling. It occurred now that as he'd headed towards the north-east, the reception from others had been increasingly chilly; when he spoke politely and in Mobian, their hostility simmered to mere mild annoyance. Perhaps they had picked up on the vibe that Tails was not one who'd been brought up with the ways of his kind.

Nevertheless, it was now clear, it was not just a reaction steeped in natural xenophobia. They were afraid. Of him.

Tails inclined his head. "That's the reason I came to this continent. I needed to know I'm not the last of my kind." He felt himself becoming increasingly giddy with the revelation. "I can't believe it..."

The badger smiled politely. "Well, now you know."

"Where are they?" he asked again.

"Why don't we discuss this more in the morning? You look tired. Why not get some sleep?" Morris awkwardly got to his feet, and began to make for one of the doors. "I will see you both tomorrow."

"'Night, Morris," Sonic waved. Once the badger was gone from sight, Sonic looked back at Tails. "I'll get you a bed set up, man. But I wanna grab a brew and get some air first. Come with me."

Tails followed his old friend over to the Duragan version of a refrigerator, apparently nothing more than a heavy stone box. But when Sonic hefted the lid and dismissed the resulting burst of mist with a wave of his hand, Tails saw a bright blue flame burning at the bottom.

"Is that how they keep things preserved?" he asked.

Sonic shrugged, pulling two glasses and a heavy water-skin from the box. "I guess. Some weird voodoo they do here. They light a fire that burns cold and they leave 'em to burn for a couple days." He poured the drink into both glasses, and Tails realised it was more of that 'M'ghana' drink he'd been drinking at the tavern earlier. He hadn't particularly enjoyed it... but he was licking his lips anyway.

Sonic raised his glass. "Cheers, big guy. To the old times."

Miles 'Tails' Prower felt an old grin trickle onto his face. "Cheers."

The air outside was fresher, now that the sun had set. The sky never went completely black in Duruga - the closest it would get was a deep shade of violet. A sun in the distance that had never shone on the Mobius side of the planet was barely visible, a distant, tiny flare peeking out through the haze.

"You look better without all that Brotherhood getup, you know." Sonic chuckled as he took a healthy swig of his drink. Tails looked down at himself, reminded of his nakedness. Indeed, Sonic had never developed any kind of need for wearing clothing and evidently he seemed no worse off for it.

"Is this where you've been for the past three years?" Tails said, incredulous, leaning against the mudbrick wall.

"Maybe a year or so. I did the tourist thing too."

He shook his head. "Man... you know, I nearly walked right by this place."

"So what happened to your chick?" Sonic asked.

Tails frowned. "My... chick?"

"Yeah," the hedgehog said nonchalantly. "Marr. What happened to her?"

The kitsune hung his head, staring into his pot, the pale white liquid swirling around in it. "Mm..."

Sonic looked at him. "Is she okay?"

"She left. She went home." His frown grew deeper. "Left me here."

"I'm sorry, man." He put a hand on Tails' shoulder. The fox didn't pull away or brush it off - he didn't move at all. "Hey... women, huh?"

"Yup. Women." In a sensation that came as a total surprise, Tails felt his bottom lip quivering.

"Well... you lose one, you gain another." Sonic smiled, giving him a friendly nudge.

Tails looked up at him, incensed, with a glare that made Sonic recoil. The kitsune's eyes were glowing blue - his powers were still there. All it took was the right trigger to make them flare up. "And where the hell were you in these past three years? All this time, you could've been dead, for all we knew! No goodbyes, no heads-up. Nothing. You just left!"

Sonic's smile vanished. "Yep... that's how I did it."

The kitsune's glowing blue eyes narrowed. "Friends... don't do that to friends."

The blue blur gave Tails a wayward glance, and stared at his feet - a gesture, Tails realised, that was thoroughly unfitting of Sonic. "I know, man. I laughed it off tonight, but you know what?"

"What?"

"I beat myself up over it every day dude. Every. Freakin'. Day."

Tails let that sink in, taking another swig of his liquor. The heat drained slowly from his eyes. He was starting to feel the buzz now, seeping through his arms and legs. "So why did you leave?"

"Because you were turning into a selfish little turd, that's why." Sonic said.

"_Me?_" Tails stammered. That one had blindsided him. "I'm not the one who decided to disappear and leave everyone else wondering where I'd gone to!"

"Yeah, well, after two years, I was gettin' itchy." Sonic growled, looking his old friend, in the eye. Looking up. "And I told you plenty of times I was sick of your crap. You know how it feels to be the third wheel? Every day?"

Tails said nothing.

"For two years?"

"Sonic..."

"Don't start with me, man." Sonic gritted his teeth. "You know, I get it. I know you two were in love and all that jazz. That's cool. But every day I'd see her change you bit by bit. You used to be cool, bro. Then one day, I woke up and I realised my old runnin' partner was gone. I'd lost the Big Guy. I'd lost Tails. Instead I was stuck with Ms. Marr of the Brotherhood and..." he raised his hands to his face to make quote marks, "_Initiate Miles Prower!_" He pulled a face as he said it, trying to sound as retarded as possible.

Tails bit down on his lip hard. That stung. A lot.

Maybe he was right.

All those nights, a three-piece unit. Tails and Marr curled up in one sleeping bag as the fire died down, talking theology and philosophy and whispering sweet nothings. Talking about children and picket fences and family businesses and knitting and the colours of window shutters and -

_Oh, Gods._

He didn't want to cry, so he tried to let himself laugh. But he didn't laugh. He sobbed.

Again and again and again.

Sonic's features softened, watching the kid slide down against the wall to land roughly on his butt, in the damp grass. The hedgehog lifted the waterskin to pour another glass of the drink for himself, but he realised he and Tails had already finished it off. He wondered idly how long they'd been out here. Either it had been a while, or they'd been drinking very, very fast.

"Whoa, easy bro," he said, trying to loop a hand under the kitsune's arm. But he was heavy these days, all dense, wiry muscle. Heaving and quivering as he cried. "Come on, man. Get up. I'm sorry."

"I ruined everything!" Tails blurted out. "I lost you and then I lost her too! And I didn't even think about it because I was lost in some... Gods forsaken... freaking... stupid pipe dream!" He smashed a fist into the ground. "_Damn it!_"

Sonic knelt down next to him. "Ok, now you're just embarrassing yourself," he said. "Get up."

Tails stopped talking, looked up at the sky, and took a long, deep breath. He let it out slowly. "I'm sorry, Sonic."

"Then we both are, hey?" Sonic stood up again, and extended his hand. He was relieved to find Tails reach up and take it, staggering to his feet. He put a hand on the kitsune's shoulder again, and looked him in the eyes. The blue glow was gone - his eyes were just red now, bloodshot through the booze and the tears. "I love you, man."

"I love you too."

They hugged, picked up the two empty glasses, and staggered inside.

* * *

"How've you been?" Tails asked, plucking at his Brotherhood uniform. Here he was again, back on Mobius, in the Brotherhood Sanctuary, making small-talk with his estranged beloved, the lynx named Marr.

She smiled politely as she led him through the dark halls. "Not much has changed," she said. "Just back to my old job as librarian. It's nice to get back to the old ways, actually. It's comfortable."

The place was crowded these days. As they walked, Tails found himself brushing shoulders with other members - as he went though, they weren't just brushing past... they were shoving, giving him the strangest looks as they went. It was after a few moments he realised the passing faces seemed familiar... but he couldn't quite put his finger on who they were.

One collided with him at a good stride's pace, and violently rammed him out of the way with both arms.

"Get out of the bloody way!" she said, a rabbit. Tails slithered out of the way and went the rest of the way with his back to the wall. Marr was disappearing into the crowd fast and he had to break into an awkward jog to keep up.

"Marr! Marr, wait up, geez!" he called out. "What's up with these guys?"

Marr vanished through a door in the side, and yanked him by the arm in behind her, slamming it shut behind them. He looked around and realised he was in Marr's quarters.

"They're angry at you. They resent you," she said.

Tails blinked. "What on Mobius for?"

"For what you are. They think things were fine until you turned up on the scene. Every time you come here, you bring bad news with you."

"You've got to be kidding!" Tails scowled after her, incredulous. "So what, Naugus turning up all those years ago was my fault? By virtue of just being there?"

"All they know is, when you're gone, things are okay. When you're here, things are bad. I guess it's pretty simple when you think about it that way."

Tails' eyes began to glow blue with directionless rage, his fists clenching. "That's total nonsense... everyone in this place would be dead if it weren't for me. What a bunch of... ingrates!"

He sighed, remembering something Marr had said once:

"_Do not let that fair rose in your cheeks wither..."_

She'd been right then. Anger was an way of life for the confused, the damned and afraid. As Tails figured it, he was none of those things. Or at least he tried not to be.

He unclenched his fists, and breathed deep. "Whatever."

Whatever it took to keep that inner peaceful child there. Even so, he found himself seething inside.

He struggled now, to remember how he got back here, and even what he was doing here. Had he come here to see Marr again? That made sense. Idly he wondered who the crib in the corner was for.

_The crib?_

"Are you... babysitting?" he asked.

Marr looked over at the crib then back to Tails, and let out a mocking cackle. "Oh, no! No, that's not going to be needed for a few more months. Didn't anyone tell you I'm pregnant?"

_Pregnant._

The bile in his stomach suddenly started bubbling and spitting, and the glow in his eyes began to return. "No, no one did."

_You... bitch._

She'd barely even left his side, after so many years in love together. So many talks of their future together. So many times she'd told him he was the only one who'd ever matter.

_You selfish, dainty little bitch._

She looked at him, beautiful and innocent. Stupid and ungrateful. Blissful and ignorant. Didn't it even occur to her how selfish she was acting? Was he really worth so little to her, that she'd throw away all that time in an instant?

"Miles? Are you okay? Wait, what are you-"

_Bitch._

He reached out with both arms and grabbed her by the throat, digging his thumbs in, waiting for the life to drain out of

* * *

Everything turned white.

"Uuuuunnnhhh..."

The ceiling swam back into view again. The walls were swirling around like they were made of water. The echoes of Marr's strained, confused gasps retreated into the black cesspool of his subconscious.

"Gah!" He struggled to catch his breath, and tumbled out of the bed Sonic had made for him, staggering outside and bringing up last night's soup against the cobblestone wall. He held out an arm against the wall, and through the bleariness of his vision he saw a brief flash of blue ethereal flame flare up and curl around his forearm. Whatever this affliction was, it seemed to be playing with his powers, too.

By the gods, he'd never, ever felt so rotten in his life. The m'ghana he'd indulged in so much of last night had not seemed so formidable at the time. Now it felt like his insides were liquefying. Maybe this had all been a part of some incredibly elaborate ruse to put him through the most excruciating and unpleasant death possible.

"Are you okay, child?" He heard Morris behind him. "I see you and Sonic found the liquor supply last night."

Tails turned around, looking up at him through bloodshot eyes. "I feel like I've swallowed a bag full of razor blades!" Then he turned back and went back to dry-heaving.

"I suppose you've never been hung over before, then," the badger chuckled. "Don't fret, boy. The effects are temporary. You will feel better with some more rest." He held out a glass of water. "Take this. Drink it slowly."

The kitsune snatched the glass out of the badger's hand and gulped the lot of it down in a single swig, setting the glass down at his foot and sucked in a few deep breaths, trying to keep it all down. "Where's Sonic, then?" he finally asked.

"Inside, and he's faring no better than you. Ah, kids... no matter where you're all from, you all do the same silly things to yourselves."

A few hours later, things had stabilised somewhat. Tails now sat cross-legged in one of the chairs in Morris' living room, nibbling slowly on a loaf of bread. His stomach was still in a delicate state and his head still throbbed, but he was now at last convinced, the after-effects of alcohol were not quite as deadly as he'd first thought.

"You seemed surprised that I know your language," Morris said from across the table.

Tails nodded. "You're the first native I've heard in Duruga to speak it."

Down the hall, they could both hear Sonic's snoring - occasionally it'd stutter and stop, and he'd groan loudly from the other room, saying something about how he was never drinking again.

"It's the language of the Kitsune. I believe they took it from the continent you and your friend hail from. The people of this village call me an elder, but I'm really just a bookish old badger. I've studied many of the language of Duruga and become fluent in a good number of them."

"So what was Sonic doing here all this time?"

Morris scratched his chin, looking around to the hall. "He showed up one day in much the same manner as you. He'd been going around stealing from the stores, apparently. Every time someone would make an attempt to catch him, he'd take off - the fastest thing I've ever seen! And then everyone turned to me, to act as an interpreter.

"Once I called him out and talked him down, I suppose he wanted to atone for his actions. All he needed was someone to talk to. So for the past year he's been living here, earning his keep by doing the odd job here and there for me. All things considered, he's done well for himself."

Tails leaned back, impressed. "I think you've quite likely saved both our lives."

The old badger chuckled, and coughed. "Highly doubtful, though it's been nice to put some of all those years of research into the Kitsune tongue to the test.

"So... they're real then... and they're here..." Tails murmured, smiling to himself. "For almost the whole past decade I've wondered if I would ever find them."

"If you're referring to your kitsune kindred, I'd advise you be careful." Morris leaned over the table to find a book of matches, and pulled a pipe from his pocket to begin filling it with Duruga weed. "I'm not sure how they'd take to the sight of an outsider, even another kitsune such as yourself. Especially one with three tails."

He was aware that three tails was unusual, even for a kitsune. Most would develop two at most over the course of their lifetime. More than that number had been rumoured to be a sign of superior power and potential over others - he wondered, momentarily, if he'd possibly be greeted with increased respect or hostility as a result if he were to finally make contact with his kind.

Tails' brows lowered in thought. "What about Sonic?"

"Hah. Not advisable. If he sticks close by you, and they accept you... they'll probably put him through the wringer. If they don't kill him outright."

"Sounds like a pretty nasty bunch..." Tails frowned. "Are they really that awful? I mean, my family were all kitsune, and they were nothing like that. We were loners, to be sure... but we had some respect."

Morris lit the pipe and puffed on it contentedly for a few moments before he replied. "The kitsune here respect their own. Everything and everyone else to them either is kindling or food, depending on the need." He leaned over and blew out a thick plume of smoke. "But I'm not going to convince you to turn back, am I?"

"I've been at this for way too long to walk away from it now. I have to see for myself, if only for my peace of mind."

"Then by all means, don't let me stop you." Morris got slowly to his feet and walked to one of his many bookshelves, pulling one of them down and sitting it gently in Tails' lap. "This is one of my better atlases. It doesn't show the whole continent, but it shows what you need to see. You should hold onto it."

He opened the book up to the middle page, and flicked through a few more to find the one he was after.

"This is us, here. In Plinata." He pointed to one of the dots. Tails was surprised to see just how close to the western coast they were; his bearings had told him previously they were closer to the other side.

"I see," he said.

Morris' hand moved up, to a red dot, further to the north-east, on the other side of a thick, serpentine blue line that carved its way through the land mass. "That's the Enclave there, Gorromandas. That's where you want to go. It'll be a difficult trip, to be sure. You have the river to cross, also. There was once a bridge across, but I believe the rapids destroyed it many decades ago."

Tails smiled, pointing to his three namesakes. "Won't be a problem." He closed the weighty tome and slid it into his backpack that sat at his feet. "I can't begin to imagine how I'll thank you for all of this, Morris."

The old one chuckled heartily, and leaned back. "Well, if you're still intent on publishing that kind of account of your Duruga exploits that Sonic had mentioned so many times, you could give me a mention."

"You got it."

The fox sprung to his feet, and moved to the adjacent bedroom, where Sonic was still lying in bed, but his eyes were open. He must've been listening to the whole conversation.

Sonic rolled over and looked up at his best friend, carrying an expression of both dread and amusement. "Let me guess... you're in the mood for a hike."

Tails smirked, and looked down at his best friend. They knew each other too well. "You up to it, bro?"

The hedgehog rubbed his eyes, throwing the sheets off and staggering to his feet. "Sounds dangerous. Better count me in."


	2. Day Zero, Part Two

** -= Day Zero, Part Two =-**

** III. Complicity**

Present day.

Queen Nicole of the Acorn throne sat cross-legged in the freshly manicured grass of the Castle Acorn courtyard, a pot of coffee in hand. She wrapped her velvet nightgown tightly around herself, and stared at the sun through closed eyes, feeling the pink-gold morning rays soaking into her skin, the bulbous dots of dull red and orange swirling around behind her eyelids.

For the past few years, this had been her morning ritual, harkening back to the first months of her life in her android cat body, when the war against Robotnik and Naugus had reached its crescendo. In here, she could collect her thoughts and renew the connection to her lithe synthetic body - whenever things got rough, a good night's rest and a visit to the courtyard to meditate had never failed to give her the fresh perspective she needed.

Behind came the sound of heavy footsteps thudding against the grass, making her eyes snap open. The way the buckles jingled and jangled told her who it was before he spoke.

"Good morning, Griff," she said to the morning air.

"Hello, your highness. It certainly is a lovely morning..."

In the years following Naugus and Robotnik's simultaneous defeat, Griff had been appointed War Minister, if only by virtue of a desperate lack of volunteers at the time. He may have been the best choice of a bad lot at the time, but he'd taken his job seriously, keeping careful mind of the future security of the Acorn empire, and the, until recently, merely simmering tensions between Trema, capital of Mobius North, and Mobotropolis of the South.

"How's the army shaping up?" Nicole asked, stretching and opening her eyes to look at him.

"It's..." Minister Griff frowned. She asked him this every day, and it had become a sort of running joke between them; after all, the populace of Mobius South had now gotten used to the idea of an everlasting peace. He'd never really figured out if it was just Nicole's jovial demeanour or some kind of cruel jibe, but he normally found it amusing. Normally.

Whatever the tone was on less urgent occasions, Nicole was not joking now. "It's...?"

"The Mobius South Army stands ready, your highness. I made an inquiry this morning as to how the outer city defences are holding up. They're solid. Border security reports things are running smooth."

"That's good to hear," Nicole nodded. "But don't issue any alerts, just keep it business as usual." She got to her feet, taking another long sip of coffee - it was a high quality brew, cultivated from the old Robotropolis reserves. Robotnik's reserves.

Griff leaned back against the base of a tall statue next to him, carved in the image of King Maximilian. "That's the plan, your highness. Is... the morning routine working for you today?" He looked at her, studying the circles under her eyes.

Nicole smiled, appreciative of his apparently genuine concern. "It's working quite well, I think. I'm feeling much better today."

"Nice." He smiled. He knew she was lying. But despite his profession, he'd never been fond of confrontations. Maybe that was why she'd elected to keep him in his position.

The feline queen didn't doubt he saw through it too. Meditating only worked if she'd actually slept the night before, and Nicole had been awake until the dawn, running the last evening's events over and over in her head. She'd bathed three times during the night. She still felt like she hadn't washed any of the blood off.

They began walking back toward the interior. "So... have you heard much of the initial reaction to what happened last night?"

"I've heard a little," Griff said, staring at his feet.

She smirked. "Not good, I presume?"

He looked at her for a second, but turned his gaze to the surrounding scaffolding when he saw her looking back. She carried a smirk on her face, but her eyes looked worried... very worried.

"Well..." he began. "I don't think you did it. That's all I can say."

* * *

"Welcome back to Knothole, your highness!"

Rotor bowed as she left the hovercraft with Griff in tow, reaching for her hand. She gently patted it away, but made up for the gesture with a quick hug - the formal gesture of extending one's hand was something she could appreciate, but she did not like being treated as a superior by those that she considered to be close friends.

"How's everyone been around here?"

The walrus scratched the back of his head, his matted, frayed baseball cap moving up and down with the motion. "Pretty good, 'till last night of course. What happened?"

Nicole grimaced, her tiny black nose wrinkling up. "We'll get to that at the meeting, Rotor. What else has been going on around here?"

Did it have to be so soon that they started with the questions? The meeting was still a half-hour off, after all, and anything she could do to put it off seemed appealing.

"Just the usual stuff, I guess. Chuck's finally finished going over all that code you dropped in last year for the roboticiser. I've had a look at it too, but it's a little over my head."

"Did he get anything useful from it?"

"Sorry, but not really, from the sound of things. Robotnik had made this enormous amount of changes to the source that Chuck had originally given him, to the point that it's almost like a whole new codebase. Can't even imagine how many years it must've taken him to get it all working, and all done in secret..." He shuffled a little, shifting his balance from one flat foot to the other. "In any case, the only way we'll ever do a deroboticiser at this point is by total reverse-engineering. Chuck's original code is just too old. And it'll take... well, years, with a team like ours."

The queen nodded, looking up into the lush Knothole canopy and taking a deep breath. "Don't worry, we're in no hurry. We still have all the roboticised citizens we were able to recover in cold storage. They won't be going anywhere."

Every time Rotor thought about that, he shivered. The roboticisation process did not completely transform living tissue to circuits and steel - the brain and heart survived the process intact, and without Robotnik's command signal being sent anymore, their internal preservation systems had shut-off. It was only until a few months after that it was noticed by some of the Mobotropolis scientists that this had happened, until they'd started to notice a particularly unpleasant smell coming from one of the bots. They'd nicknamed it 'brain rot' - and who could say, after taking so long to notice that, how many of these Mobians had been affected by the condition? Would any of them even be alive after the procedure was over?

They started through the damp grass, taking the bridge over the stream, heading past the power ring pool.

Nicole hadn't been here for a good few months, but she enjoyed it every time she saw it. Mobotropolis was a city on the mend, and reconstruction progressed steadily despite the young age average and severe skill deficit. Knothole, on the other hand, looked barely any different than what it had when the coup had happened eighteen years ago, even after a total rebuild when the fallout from the Adramalech battle had reduced half of it to cinders.

The air was cool and pure against her fur. The steady flow of the river provided the background to the backdrop, punctuated by the musical calls of birds echoing out from among the trees. She was glad that the Freedom Fighters had deigned to keep Knothole obscure from the general populace. It was a sanctuary then and it was still a sanctuary now.

They passed by Lupe's cabin - formerly Princess Sally's. It had been the only one that was left untouched by the Adramalech fallout, and it seemed only fitting that they'd chosen to keep Sally's statue out the front of her own place. Lupe had had her reservations about moving in, but space was short and the others had outright refused to go in for all the memories the place conjured up - at the time, years had already passed since Sally had been lost, but no one had really been able to let her go. There had been no funeral, and no body recovered. Just a series of silent, private goodbyes.

The night that they'd gone through to gather all of Sally's personal effects and transport them for storage in the castle was one of the most heartbreaking Nicole could remember.

Her statue, built by Lupe and Knuckles, still stood proud in the centre of the clearing, eyes of emerald gleaming in the shafts of sun. Knuckles had stopped by every day to make sure it was clean. Maybe it was some kind of atonement. Lupe had told her in the past that he was still suffering a kind of survivor's guilt, though guilt in any shape or form, was not something he'd ever admit to harbouring to anyone.

"Morning." The voice came from above - tilting her head and turning on her thermal imaging, she could see 'Sheriff' Knuckles perched high above at the edge of a clearing, legs dangling over the edge of the thick branch he'd sat himself on.

"Hello, Knuckles!" Nicole called out. "Why don't you come down?"

"No thanks. I'll be there for the meeting."

"Suit yourself!"

Griff squinted, scanning the canopy for the elusive echidna. "I can't even spot him."

Knuckles' natural red colour didn't lend itself well to blending in, but the dark brown leather he wore helped to cover up his obviousness, and he'd well learned in his youth how to blend in and go unnoticed, looking on quietly from the shadows.

The last of the echidna, now approaching the twilight of his early years, had historically possessed all the makings of an outcast even when he'd first shown up in Knothole. He'd spent half of his youth alone as the sole survivor of the disaster of Angel Island at the hands of Naugus and Lazar, but he'd also been gifted/cursed with an all-consuming sense of duty and loyalty. He truly was a natural-born guardian, a quality that had, at first, seemed appropriate for drafting him into the Mobius South Army.

It only took a week of constant complaints during their regular training, however, for Griff to come to the conclusion that Knuckles was not a team player, and he'd been reassigned an unofficial position as lookout for Knothole - one that he'd been all too happy to accept. He kept watch over the tiny village almost obsessively, and shared very little of himself with others. The only one who'd managed to get even remotely close to him had been Lupe, and even then things were hot and cold. But Nicole had long noticed the two saw something in each other, that perhaps no one else could see. Some rumours had been going around that she even knew his real name, which she'd neither confirm nor deny.

When they finally made their way to the war room, Antoine, Bunnie and Chuck were already waiting. Chuck was sitting quietly in his chair, tapping away at his MX-50 handset - the one that once, had been Nicole's body. Now, it'd been repurposed as a general computer with an AI that Rotor had developed - it was basic and did not have much of a personality, which suited Chuck just fine (though it did often exhibit signs of Rotor's subtle brand of humour in its operations, such as the file system being christened 'TUNA-FS').

"Your highness," he nodded, tiny red dots in the glossy black of his eyes blinking.

Antoine leaned forward, resting his chin on one hand, while Bunnie worriedly pressed a wet face-washer to his temple.

"Really, it is feeling quite better now, _ma cherie_," he mumbled when he saw Nicole walk in, immediately sitting up straight and straightening his collar.

Bunnie frowned, lifting the wet cloth for a moment to observe the swelling. "But darlin', that lump in yer noggin's still the size of a golf ball..." She studied his face, then perked her ears up when she saw Nicole, Rotor and Griff standing in the doorway.

"How are you doing, Antoine?" Nicole asked. "It seems you took a real beating yesterday."

"I ain't let him outta mah sight since you fellas shipped him back on the transport last night," Bunnie laughed. "Rosie said it was a classic concussion, do ya mind if we keep 'im here at home for a couple more days?"

Griff ran a hand over his face. "Give me a break..."

Nicole nodded amiably, though not without giving Griff a brief scowl. "Go for it. He's been pushing himself hard as of late."

A few minutes later, Knuckles and Lupe had bowled in, quietly taking their seats. It had been a long time since they'd last held a meeting in this room with everyone there, and no one had ever looked forward to it. A war room meeting meant bad news, and hard decisions. Today would be no different.

"So..." Nicole started, looking down the oak table at the rest of the group. "We'll get this over with, now."

"Did you do it?" Knuckles asked.

"Knuckles!" Griff glared at him, nostrils flaring. "Are you seriously accusing her of murder?"

"No, I'm asking her."

"You have absolutely no excuse for acting like -"

"It's okay, Griff." Nicole raised a hand, speaking quietly, reservedly. Griff sank back in his seat. He knew that voice of hers. "And no, I didn't do it," she said.

Knuckles leaned back with his arms folded, and nodded, apparently satisfied with her answer.

"Ah don't understand it then..." Bunnie squeaked. "Christof was their leader... what good reason would two a his lackeys have to knife him in the back and then off 'emselves as well?"

"Christof and Nicole were about to sign a peace treaty," Chuck told her. "Obviously someone didn't want it signed. It's no big secret that a lot of the folks in Trema still harbour a lot of hatred for us in the south, and maybe they weren't keen on seeing an alliance form."

"That seems like the most obvious scenario," Nicole nodded gravely. "The problem is that nothing I say will mean anything without any evidence to back up what I say. There were two eyewitnesses, one of which I couldn't even recognise."

"And how about you, sugah?" Bunnie asked, turning to Antoine. "Remember anything? Anythin' at all?"

The coyote grimaced, shaking his head. "I am remembering not one thing, not before or after. I recall my queen heading into tze meeting room, then..."

"Then what?" Lupe asked, leaning forward.

"No thing..." He frowned. "Only... all black, and fuzzy..."

"What about the window?" Chuck asked. "The window was shattered when Nicole came out. That person could've knocked you out when he came through. Do you remember it breaking? Anyone coming through?"

"Non," he said, growing increasingly uncomfortable with all the sets of eyes upon him.

"Are you sure?" Chuck asked him again. "If you remember anything..."

"I am sure."

"Anything..."

"I said I am sure!" Antoine snapped back at him. "I cannot be making myself any more clear!"

Chuck frowned, nodding slowly. "I'm sorry, Antoine. It's just that things are looking desperate. What about you, Nicole? Are you sure of what you saw?"

"I'm absolutely positive of what I saw. I think whoever it was that came through the window, was only planning on trying to stop what went down. He actually apologised to me before he left. Antoine must've already been out to it by then."

"Did you see his face?" Knuckles prodded.

Nicole shook her head, rubbing her forehead with two fingers. "I couldn't see anything clearly by then. There was still blood in my eyes..."

No one said anything more for a while.

"Then..." Griff leaned back in his chair, folding one leg over the other. "We've got no witnesses except for Nicole herself. Antoine's knock gave him amnesia, there are no cameras in the hall or the meeting room, and no one even heard any of the commotion over the storm outside." He breathed long and deep. "We're screwed."

"How can ya say that, Griff?" Bunnie said, her ears folding back under her blonde hair. "All the signs still point to there bein' some foul play goin' on with the whole shebang. Glass don't shatter into a building unless you're comin' in from the outside. Nicole, you been our queen for seven years now, and you ain't put a foot wrong. Ya think no one's gonna be able to take your word?"

Nicole shook her head. "I doubt it. Some of our own, maybe. The North, well... no. I don't think so. Half of them still resent us for even being here, after what Robotnik and Maximilian did to them during the Great War." She sighed, running a hand through her long, jet-black hair. "A lot of them, have just been waiting for an excuse to hit back at us. Now they'll have one, if we don't do something."

She looked around the room, slowly, at the faces that now stared at her. Here she was, surrounded by her closest friends and her most trustworthy servants, but all the same, she felt... alone. Completely and utterly alone.

"But it isn't fair!" Rotor cried out, slamming a fist against the table, making every fitting in the room rattle. "They can't do this!"

"Life rarely is," Nicole whispered.

The walrus grimaced, staring down at the wood grain before him. "Wait... there might be a way to retrieve some proof..."

Griff's eyebrows shot up. "Yes...?"

"Well... you're an android, Nicole..." Rotor looked at her, not quite sure of how to phrase things. He looked like he was sorry for even entertaining the thought of asking. "You've got a brain like the rest of us, but you can be... hooked up..."

Chuck said nothing, but frowned when he heard the idea.

"I've considered that," Nicole said. "Maybe it's a possibility, retrieving my memories straight from my cyber-brain. But I'm not fond of the idea..."

"What kind of problems could there be?" Griff pressed. "We've got to try whatever we can to get some proof that you're innocent!"

Chuck spoke up next: "There are three problems. One, it's dangerous because we'd be the ones doing the diving, and a wrong move could kill her. Two, the Mobian brain doesn't store memories in any kind of organised order. They need to be triggered, which is something we can't do from the outside, and can you imagine how much information the average brain accumulates in a lifetime? Which brings me to number three..." he fell silent for a bit, twiddling his thumbs, listening to the faint _click-click-click_ as the bolts and joints moved.

"Number three...?"

"If they jacked into my brain," Nicole finished, "They'd be able to see everything." She closed her eyes tight, more and more uncomfortable with the idea by the second. "Every single one of my memories, thoughts and feelings would be laid bare."

Griff stared out the window, watching one of the exotic Mobius birds cutting its way across the hole in the lush green canopy. "Would you be able to consent to that?" he asked.

"Hmph." Nicole looked at him until he turned his gaze away from the window and made eye contact. "Would _you _be able to, Griff?"

The goat closed his eyes, folding his arms. "I suppose that idea's off the table, then."

"It's true..." Rotor murmured under his breath. "No one should ever have to be put through something like that."

"I won't say it's off the table," Nicole admitted reluctantly, "but I'd like to consider it a last resort. I don't think I'm alone in thinking there are parts of anyone... that no one else should ever see..."

"Then we still haven't come up with an action," Lupe pointed out. "What do you propose, your highness?"

Nicole sighed. "Chuck, Rotor, I'm afraid I'll have to take you two back with us to the city, and get to work on finding out who it might've been that came through the window. He could only have gotten in via the rooftops, so surveillance will be slim pickings, but do absolutely anything you can to get us an ID. Understood?"

"Gotcha," Rotor and Chuck both said in unison. They'd been spending too much time in each others' company.

"Great," Nicole smiled. "Griff, keep at what you do, but don't raise any red flags unless something goes awry. Lupe, I'll need to ask you to do something unpleasant..."

"I've seen my share of unpleasantness, after what happened to my clan..." Lupe said. "What will it be?"

"You're good with words, and you have an urbane manner when it's called for. I'll need someone to deliver an announcement in my absence to say that Christof and I will not be able to make any of our scheduled announcements today."

Lupe's eyes bulged. "You're right. That will be unpleasant. You know the first thing they will ask is 'why', your highness..."

"If they ask, tell them you don't know. Don't implicate yourself, don't announce anything else. The media blackout of the incident will hold, but not for more than a day or two, I suspect. Eventually, someone in the know inside the castle's going to blow the whistle. We need this thing sorted before that happens."

The wolf ran a hand over her mouth, her chest rising and falling slowly. "I will do as you ask, though I'm not fond of lying."

Nicole shrugged. "Nor am I. Rarely in politics can you ever tell the truth and have people believe it."

"What about us?" Bunnie asked, looking at Antoine.

"Just take care of your husband, Bunnie." Nicole said warmly. "And keep an eye on the village while Knuckles is gone."

Knuckles' eyes narrowed. "Come again?"

"Come on," Nicole laughed, despite herself. "Don't you get bored of sitting around in the trees and eating grapes all day? I could use a helping hand while I'm up in the north for the next day or so."

"In the... north..." Knuckles grimaced. "For the next... day or so..." Gods, things just kept getting better and better.

* * *

Ten hours later, Knuckles woke up feeling like he'd been tossed into a walk-in freezer overnight.

He peeked through the curtains of the road train's cabin and saw something he never thought he'd see again in his life - the ambrosial green of the south of Mobius had given way to the snow-capped peaks and frozen wastes of the north. The last time he'd seen such beauty was when he'd visit the Ice Cap mountains of Angel Island. Before his friends had used a gargantuan laser cannon to blast the entire island out of the sky.

"Are you awake now, Knuckles?" he heard a gentle voice above his head. He turned around and saw Nicole grinning down at him. He couldn't even remember dozing off. Nor could he imagine how Nicole could possibly be amused when her future - when all of their futures - possibly rested on the outcome of this meeting.

"I was only resting my eyes," he grumbled, voice as raspy as he could make it.

"You'd be the first one I've known to snore while they rest their eyes, then." Nicole walked over and pulled the curtains aside, flooding the darkened cabin with light. "We're here. Help me with the caskets up the back."

"Ugh... alright." Knuckles slowly sat up, scratching the back of his head. One of the annoying things about dreadlocks - the itching. "Why are you laughing, Nicole?"

Nicole smiled, looking out the window. "Sometimes, my friend, you just have to."

* * *

As chilled as the climate was outside, the mood in the Office of the Grandmaster of the Brotherhood of Thamael that ruled over Mobius North, felt colder still.

"It's been a long time, Ari," Nicole smiled pleasantly as they stepped into the office. She had kept her attire modest for this trip, with some simple black pants and white vest, which she'd elected to keep done up, all covered with a thick trenchcoat.

Knuckles had never met Ari before, but he'd heard a few stories about how the ram had helped them out, and once actually double-crossed them, back in the old guerilla days against Robotnik's regime. No one had told him, however, that Ari was a high-ranking acolyte of the Brotherhood. Perhaps not many of them had known.

"It certainly has, your highness," Ari frowned. "And I wish we could be meeting under better circumstances."

"Ari, I-" a small voice came from the door behind them - Knuckles turned his head to see it was Marr, the shy little lynx that had joined Sonic and Tails on their expedition to... wherever. "Oh, sorry. I didn't know you had visitors."

"Marr?" Knuckles started.

The lynx bowed almost imperceptibly, feeling incredibly awkward. "Long time no see, Knuckles."

"Aren't you supposed to be off the continent with Sonic and your boyfriend, or something?"

"Uh..." she frowned, looking up at the desk where Ari sat. "This isn't the time to be talking about that. Perhaps we'll catch up some time after?"

Knuckles waved his hand at her dismissively, turning his attention back to the Brotherhood Grandmaster. Perhaps, they could, if they weren't skewering each other with bayonets by the month's end.

"You two know each other?" Ari's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"We had a mutual acquaintance in the form of Tails, the kitsune," Nicole filled in. "Do you know him?"

"I remember him, the little fox boy..." Ari nodded. "Yes, I remember Marr telling me about him and Sonic when they were overseas."

"Seems we missed the memo that they were all back," Knuckles smirked, looking at Nicole.

"Marr came back by herself," Ari said politely. "Didn't say much about her travels. I didn't ask, she didn't tell. She just slotted right back in."

Nicole and Knuckles exchanged puzzled glances. Something was wrong there, but now wasn't the time to follow it up.

The ram, decked out in his red vest and black Grandmaster's cape, leaned forward in his seat, curling his fingers together. He was an imposing sight, Knuckles noted. The whole sanctuary was an imposing sight - a dark and grandiose, ancient monastery carved straight out of a mountainside, with everything all black and red, marble and velvet, torches and candles. He remembered Marr rattling on and on years ago about everything the symbol of Thamael, a six-pointed star with an image of an eye in it, stood for. Tails had indulged in the spiel from time to time too, though with a far saner level of enthusiasm.

"Let's not beat around the bush, here." Ari frowned. "This seat belongs to Grandmaster Christof, but now it looks like I'll be occupying it myself for the foreseeable future. My master and two assistants travelled to Mobotropolis with a notion of goodwill and a mind to seal a treaty of lasting peace between our nations."

Knuckles swallowed. _This is going to suck._

"And you've come back the next day, with their corpses in the back of a road train!" He glared daggers at Nicole. "If the general population here and among yours hear this tale exactly as I've heard it, we'll be looking at full-scale attacks in days, with the blame for every single slaying that takes place, laid upon your shoulders. Do you understand?"

"I understand perfectly, Grandmaster," Nicole nodded. "That's why I'm here. I didn't hide this or attempt to cover it up. Your received my testimony via electronic mail this morning and it recounts every detail that I'm able to provide. We've returned you the bodies in exactly the state they were after the murder took place. We have submitted as much photographic evidence as we possibly can for your review, and we are conducting our own rigorous investigation into the incident as we speak."

"I've read over all of your correspondence and frankly," he leaned picked up a glass of cognac, and took a sip. "I'm not going to believe a word of it until I have heard the reports of my own acolytes, after they've gone over _your_ castle with a fine-tooth comb."

"That's complete non-sense!" Knuckles blurted out before he could stop himself. "Are you seriously suggesting we allow a bunch of northerners to walk around in the most high-security areas of Mobotropolis like they own the place?"

"That's fine," Nicole butted in, cutting Ari off before he had a chance to explode. "That's absolutely fine. If you send an investigative team in that you can trust, we will provide them with carte-blanche security clearance and provide them with administrator access to all computer accounts, as well as the best lodging we can find."

Ari leaned back in his seat, eyes narrow. "Smart of you."

"On the proviso, that any findings uncovered from your investigation, are shared with my own people," Nicole added. "It's paramount that we maintain total transparency on this matter and find out who is responsible for it. You know just as well as I, that even though both of our nations have been making good progress up to this point, we still both have our own wounds to lick. The absolute last thing I could possibly want with your people is another war!"

She watched the Grandmaster nodding, bottom lip curling. "You're right, of course. But is it not entirely possible, if your testimony is to be believed, that two of our men, had gone haywire and conspired to frame you all by themselves? Perhaps they had no higher authority to martyr themselves to?"

"The tone they used seemed to suggest some higher cause of theirs," Nicole recounted. "No one in such a position would be crazy enough to martyr themselves without the notion that they're doing some kind of service. Putting two of those Mobians in the same room, both without any plausible motive or authority to answer to, is even more far-fetched."

"A fair point," Ari surmised. "It's settled then. I'll be sending a unit of two investigators back with you and your... friend, here." He glared at Knuckles, who just glared right back at him. "And how much longer do you intend to keep this matter a secret?"

Nicole shrugged, turning up her hands. "I don't."

"Then I'll need to think about how I'll go about telling my people here that our leader was found dead at your feet... and then tell them not to take any action about it. That'll be all," Ari stood up from behind his desk, to look out the window with his hands clasped behind his back. The window didn't look outside, but rather over the main hall of the sanctuary, where all of the acolytes were shuffling back and forth about their business. "I appreciate your candour in this matter, Nicole. I hope we'll be able to salvage something positive out of it."

"No door closes without another opening," Nicole said quietly. "Your men are welcome to my city any time, but I'd also highly advise you to look into the goings-on back here at the sanctuary. If someone is behind this, trying to throw a wrench in the gears, they're more likely to be here."

"Of course," Ari said, not turning around.

"Come on," Nicole whispered to Knuckles, rising from her seat and turning to leave.

The echidna got up to follow her, but before leaving he turned to Ari. "You think this entire visit's been a farce, don't you?"

"Didn't I say, that'd be all?" Ari said.

Nicole grabbed him by the wrist, and dragged him out of the office.

* * *

It was dusk when they returned outside and embarked on the road train again. They settled in the dining car with some synthesised steak and vegetables, and a mug of hot chocolate each. The Brotherhood, as promised, had provided two investigators of their own, who very promptly made their way to one of the other cars and locked the doors without so much as introducing themselves.

"So..." Nicole said. "What do you think?"

"What do I think?" Knuckles stirred some of the gravy around on his plate, chewing idly on a mouthful of steak. It tasted rubbery and fake, and he'd never really been a fan of meat to begin with - but it was hot, and he was cold, and that was enough for him. "I think Ari's full of shit. He's all smiles while we're here. Soon as we're gone, he'll be off to his lackeys to tell 'em to sharpen their blades."

Nicole chuckled, shaking her head. "Has anyone ever told you, Knuckles, that you don't exactly have the most regal conduct?"

"Huh," Knuckles gave her his _I-told-you-so_ look. "I just call a spade a spade."

The queen of Mobius South sighed, leaning back in her chair. Watched the last dark silhouettes of the mountains die away with the sun, until all she could see was her own reflection in the glass. "Remind me never to take you along on any excursion that requires tact again."

The echidna laughed, for the first time that Nicole could recall in recent memory. "Suit _your_self!"

* * *

"Last stack for tonight, I swear."

Chuck dumped an armload of data discs onto the desk, nearly knocking over Rotor's coffee.

"Is that everything we've got?" Rotor asked him, the bags under his eyes looking more obvious than ever in the dim light. The only source of illumination in the room was his computer monitor, deep in the bowels of the Mobotropolis lab. He'd remembered this lab being one of Robotnik's main labs - he had to admit, the old man had known how to lay out a workspace.

"That's the lot, Rote. Then you can get some sleep. We've still got time, and you're no good to anyone if you're running on fumes all the time."

"Uhuh..." Rotor took another sip of his coffee, reaching for the first disc in the pile, sliding it straight into the optical drive, and then reaching for another. On the screen, images flickered back and forth of what they'd compiled of all the security footage just before the time of the murder. Unfortunately, the timing couldn't have been better for their guest to go hopping around on the rooftops - the weather was dark and the rain had all but destroyed any possible visibility for most of the security cameras around the city.

"I'm serious, Rotor. This is it. We'll finish this up in the morning."

Rotor rubbed his eyes, watching another tape roll past, this one of a hotel roof. He tapped a command into the console window next to the video footage, and the tape began fast-forwarding by itself. It'd taken him most of the morning, but he'd managed to crank out a simple VIDMAGICK script to automatically scan the videos and alert upon finding any obvious Mobian shapes that they came across, something that Chuck had found most impressive.

Sonic's old uncle was certainly no stranger to computer programming or engineering, but he was old-fashioned, slow and meticulous. Rotor, on the other hand, was a much more cluey and adaptable kid, not quite as sagely on some of the more intricate concepts, but certainly quicker on the uptake.

While Rotor had been working on his script, Chuck had been going practically door to door of every major building in the city, asking them for all of their security tapes from the previous day. He'd been surprised at how forthcoming they'd been with lending him a copy; he wasn't sure if it was just his friendly neighbourhood worker-bot charms, or the royal decree which Nicole had given him to show them that had encouraged their generosity. Probably the latter. There was still about a hundred more discs to go through, but he'd sure had enough at two hundred.

"Do you think we'll find anything?" Rotor asked, sliding another disc into the drive.

Chuck sat down next to him, watching the images flash past on one monitor, all the verbose debug info from Rotor's program scrolling up on the other. "It's not looking good so far, I'll admit, but we've only got to strike gold once."

"Most of 'em, I just can't make out." Rotor frowned, watching one of the tapes. It stopped briefly at a shot of someone walking out on to the roof, making him sit upright, but when he saw it was just one of the locals heading out for a smoke, he sighed and hit fast-forward again. "It's just too dark."

"What's the resolution like on most of them?"

"Lousy," Rotor admitted. "A couple of them are shot in 8K like this one we're looking at now, but most are just standard def-"

"Wait, hold it." Chuck said.

"Huh?" Rotor tapped on the space bar to pause the video, and stared at the screen. "What are we looking at?" The image appeared to be little more than a dim silhouette of the skyline, and a lot of rain.

"Take it back a few frames." It rewound by ten frames, and he leaned in to point at the screen. "See it?"

"Where?" Rotor leaned in.

"There." Chuck's face came up next to Rotor's, his finger pressed hard up against the screen.

Rotor leaned in until his nose was practically rubbing the glass. "Where?"

"Right there!" Chuck tapped the monitor a few times, on a tiny dot against the skyline. "There was a flash of lightning before in this one. Take it back to when it comes up."

"Uh... okay." The walrus still couldn't see it at all, but who was he to argue with him?

He started working his way through in reverse, frame by frame, until a fork of lightning slowly appeared at the bottom of the horizon and started carving its way back up into the clouds. Then, he saw it - a tiny little Mobian figure on the edge of one of the distant buildings, pulling a hood over his head.

"Holy cow..." he breathed. "Now that was well spotted, sir!"

"Heh." Chuck winked as well as he could with his LED-styled red eyes. "Lucky this is an 8K security tape. Zoom it in."

Rotor dragged a box around the tiny figure on the screen, then tapped on 'ZOOM' when it appeared in the context menu that popped up.

Framed by the flash of lightning, the view showed a perfect close-up shot of the mysterious figure, in exactly the attire Nicole had described; all dark leather armour, and a loose cloak and hood hanging over his shoulders.

Rotor clicked back two more frames, until the light clearly showed the Mobian's face. "Oh, man."

Rotor and Chuck both gasped and gave each other the same look.

Chuck looked back at the screen, then back at Rotor. "Is that who I think it is?"

"I don't think there's any mistake about it," Rotor said, taking a final sip of his coffee, now disgustingly cold.

"That's Tails..."


	3. Day Zero, Part Three

_[A/N: My apologies if some of the block quote sections here are difficult to tell apart from the rest of the text. Unfortunately, due to the machinations of this website, I'm unable to use indents, so I've had to resort to italics to denote block quotes. Hopefully they aren't too distracting._

_This also marks the first use of an Archie Universe character in this story - though she's not been treated the same way as they did with her. Big plans... enjoy! As always, any positive feedback or constructive criticism is appreciated. Don't underestimate the power of your encouragement!]_

**-= Day Zero, Part Three =-**

** IV. Blood Through the Branches**

Two years earlier.

It was with no small amount of frustration that Tails realised had seen the Reve-Na Falls before - twice, no less - in his search for the Kitsune Enclave. He'd managed to cross it, but the first time he'd been in top condition for it and even then it hadn't been easy. The second, he'd barely made it across with his life.

Reve-Na was a titan, a colossus of a rapid. Sonic and himself came to stop at the edge of the Reve-Na bridge, or rather, what was left of it, being nothing but a series of pearly white stone blocks jutting up defiantly from the ever-violent frothy rapids, all covered in moss. To the right, there was more thick greenery that seemed to stretch on to the horizon, and to the left, a gargantuan crag that shot up into the clouds, spewing an infinite flow of water to fall ages down into the huge chasm. And beyond, all they could see was thick, unforgiving jungle.

"Heh, yep," Sonic put his hands on his hips, looking out across the expanse. "I remember this joint!" He was almost shouting to keep his voice audible above the immense tumult of the water.

Tails looked at him, a smirk worming its way onto his face. "Did you ever get across?"

The hedgehog laughed, lifting a red, tattered sneaker to point it at Tails' namesakes. "Without those things you're sporting? Don't think so, flyboy! Without a bridge, it might come down to you man. I don't think we'd be takin' a raft down there!"

The kitsune sat down on the edge of the fault, legs dangling over, and stared into the crease. The millions of gallons of water that rushed through every second kicked and swirled with rage, the jagged rocks that seemed to move and flow with it just below the surface telling a very discouraging tale of what might happen to one that would ever get caught in it.

"I ain't flying!" he shouted above the uproar.

"What other way we gonna go?"

"I don't know!" Tails gauged the gap. Pulling a tuft of hip-long grass out of the damp soil, ripping it apart between his fingers as he thought.

_Could I make it?_

He was fit, and feeling healthy and energetic with all the supplies Morris had left them, but the chasm was a kilometre wide. He looked back; they'd taken a rocky path to get here, moving down a steep incline, pockmarked with bushes and scrub; if he could lift off the top of the mountain and try to just keep himself falling steady as he flew, he could make it, perhaps.

If he left all of his gear behind. And left Sonic behind, too.

"Reckon there might be another crossing upstream?" Sonic hollered. The pounding discord of the falls was starting to give him a headache.

Tails frowned. "We could head right across to the shore, I guess!"

"What? Get real!" They both knew the next crossing was a long, long way off - literally a good month or so of travel, if they went carelessly - and then another month just to head back downstream, to get back to the point they were now looking at on the other side of the river.

_Sooooo..._

Tails looked at Sonic, and Sonic looked back. And grinned.

He hadn't been wrong when he'd said this would be a dangerous trip.

* * *

Ten minutes later, they were standing at the top of the incline, watching over the gargantuan Reve-Na.

"I can do this," Tails said, running the stunt through his head, over and over. "I can do this."

Sonic looked on with a slight hint of worry. "You don't sound too sure of yourself, kiddo."

"Without taking any of the gear, we'll make it. If I get tired, I'll just keep spinning."

"Uh... look, I trust you and all, but..." Sonic kicked a lump of dirt by his foot, and watched it sail lazily through the air, to shatter into a tiny cloud of dirt as it smashed into some of the rocks below them. "You do realise, if you fall into that water, they'll be picking bits of us out of the reeds in the next town. _Riiiight?_"

Tails looked back, taking a deep breath of cool night air. "That's why I ain't gonna fall, okay?"

"Let's go, then, partner. You ready?" Sonic asked.

_Hell no._

"Yeah," Tails said, starting to whir his three bushy appendages up, and lifting awkwardly up into the air, grabbed Sonic by both wrists.

"On three!" Sonic looked up at his buddy, revving his legs up, mounds of dirt and grass flying up into the air behind him.

_Just like the plan, _Tails thought to himself.

"One!" Sonic shouted.

_Oh, gods. We're gonna die, we're gonna die._

"Two!"

_No, we're not! We'll be fine. A kilometre isn't that far. It's just... about twice what I've flown hanging on to Sonic before. No biggie._

"Thrreehhh-herk-"

_That didn't sound like 'Three' at all..._

Sonic's hands suddenly wrenched away from Tails' wrists, and in the time it took him to look down to see what had happened, the hedgehog was out of sight.

"Sonic!" He dropped down, stumbling forward and nearly toppling right over the edge of the incline. Had Sonic just taken off without him? If so, he would've gone straight into the -

A strong set of fingers dug into the scruff of his neck, and pulled him down to tumble clumsily on his butt in the dirt, his head smacking hard against one of the pebbles on the ground. The pain of the impact hammered down through the back of his neck and along his spine.

"Unhh..." for a moment, all he could see was purple clouds and some blurry strands of grass swirling around his head. "What on Mobius..."

Before he could bring a leg around to leap to his feet, a boot had already come down on his chest, slamming him back down into the ground.

"Ugh..."

There was someone heavy and tall crouched, pinning him to the ground with their boot. To his right, he saw Sonic with an elbow wrenched around his neck, his own arms flailing about, looking for something to grab but finding no purchase.

As Tails' pupils began to narrow and focus on their assailant, he made out a silhouette that looked like... him, it had to be said. Tall, wiry, muscular. Mid-length, frizzly locks of hair blowing in the wind, and two thick bushy tails curled around one knee.

"Are you... what I think you are?" he croaked. "A kitsune?"

"_Ghu-rah!_" they screamed an inch from his nose, hot spittle smacking against his face. "You are an idiot! You kill yourselves!"

It was an unmistakably feminine voice, despite the venom in it... a lady kitsune.

"Hey..." Sonic said, now having given up straining under her weight. "My name's Sonic. What's your-"

"Shut up! Ghu-rah!"

Her arm around his neck tightened, making Sonic's face turn pale. His vision was filled with a mix of fiery red and white fur, quickly moving up and down as she breathed. After a moment, he realised that curving swell of hair he was looking at was her breasts - well, if he was going to die by asphyxiation, he could think of worse places for it to happen than under a beautiful, exotic kitsune woman.

She finally released her grip, and leapt up and away from them, her muscular shape still hard to make out against the purple evening sky.

Tails propped himself up on his elbows and stared up at her. "If you're looking to rob us, our stuff's just at the bottom of the hill."

The kitsune woman sneered, looking Sonic and himself over. "I have no use for your stuffs. You. You are kitsune. Why you travelling with this ghu-rah?"

"Whoa," Sonic scratched behind one ear. "Ghu-what?"

"_Ruuuuuuaaaaaaaaaaagh!_" She towered over him, stomping a foot down next to his head, letting out a war-cry that made the earth beneath him vibrate.

Sonic pressed his head back, spines digging into the dirt, eyes widening. "Sorry I asked," he whispered, barely suppressing an ironic snigger.

"Hssss!" She took a step back again, looking briefly over her shoulder for signs of anyone else. "Kitsune boy! I ask again! Why you travel with the ghu-rah hedgehog?"

"We're looking Gorromandas," Tails said, quietly but as sternly as he could with what little breath he still had.

Her eyes narrowed. "Hmmm."

"I'm Tails," he said. "And this is Sonic. He's my friend." He nodded over at Sonic, who didn't seem sure whether to laugh his head off, or get up and run for his life.

"Tailsss..." she pointed down at his namesakes. "Those are tails. Not you."

"Uh..." Tails slowly propped himself up to one knee, not breaking eye contact. "My real name's Miles."

"Miles?" Her eyes narrowed until they were barely visible, just two white slits in the darkness. "_Gascuh?_"

"What?"

"Hsss!" She leaned forward. "Your clan, idiot! Gascuh! Clan!"

"Uh..." Tails' eyes darted left and right. "Prower? I guess?"

He held his breath. For a moment, the kitsune girl looked ready to leap forward and rip his head off. But in a move that sent his heart racing even faster, she took a step back instead, features softening.

"Prower? Miles Prower?"

Tails nodded, halfway between a crouch and standing upright, every muscle frozen.

She stepped forward and held out a hand. "Come."

"What about Sonic?" Tails asked, taking it uneasily.

"No ghu-rah."

"Then we've got a problem," Tails growled, shaking her hand free of his. "I come, he comes. You understand?"

"Uh, dude..." Sonic whispered from behind. "You sure they're not just planning on cooking you in a pot or something, anyway?"

The flame-red vixen looked long and hard at Sonic, then back at Tails, eyes narrow as slits.

"Fine. Come." She turned on her heel in a huff, and set off down the incline, towards the waterfall.

Tails and Sonic both watched her for a moment, dumbfounded, as she strode down, skipping between the massive boulders.

She stopped, and turned to look back up at them. "Now!"

They looked at each other again, exchanging glances that gave the same sentiments; confusion, caution, amusement. It was good to be together again.

* * *

She led them without speaking a word, to the side of the face of the cliffs, where the immense volumes of water tumbled over ad infinitum. The tension was thick enough to split with an ice pick; they watched the hairs on the back of her neck bristling, her muscular shoulders tense, two thick tails twirling slowly in her wake. Both Sonic and Tails kept their distance from their host; they felt a little more relaxed without her having them in a headlock, but they couldn't be sure if she'd just turn at any second and start mauling into them. Judging by her body language, it seemed the feeling was mutual.

The spray of the titanic torrent was cool against Tails' skin in the damp night air. He was unsure of where she was taking them; for all intents and purposes, it looked like a dead end - all just thick scrub, up against hard rock.

The vixen crouched to one knee in front of one of the thick bushes, holding a hand up to gesture for Sonic and Tails to hang back. When she was satisfied that they were out of striking distance, she reached in behind the bush, pressing a slab of rock behind it with her palm.

There was a small rumble, and the massive boulder before them began to slide out of place, as if on rails, a few loose pebbles falling from above to clatter noisily on the hard ground.

"Whoa," Sonic whistled, raising his eyebrows.

Reaching into a pouch that hung loosely from her belt, the vixen produced a flare, and struck it against the hard rock next to her, a bright white fireball shooting from the top. She held it out ahead of her for a moment until the flame became stable, and then gestured for Sonic and Tails to follow her into the tunnel before them.

The space was narrow and cramped for a good thirty metres or so until it emptied out into a larger underground area, one that seemed to stretch on across the whole gap of the chasm outside. Tails noted the glistening of the flare against the wet rock, and as soon as he saw the water, he realised why the pummelling noise of the water hadn't eased in here - they were moving behind the waterfall, a massive, impenetrable wall of cascading torrent pounding down at one of the cave's sides. Sonic moved on briskly, chin held high and spines bristling, but Tails found himself trailing behind, entranced.

He listened to the pounding of the water. The pounding of his heart, like tribal drums.

The smell of rainwater. The smell of that vixen up ahead, musky and raw.

Torchlight against wet rock, a ghostly tropical breeze so thick it made his head swim.

Could this be... home?

What he'd spent the last five years, searching so long and hard for? That he'd given up nearly everything and everyone for?

He stared at his feet, his tails wrapping around his legs. Stared at his bare hands, lean, damp and covered with dirt and grit. The hands of a kitsune.

Native.

That smell from the vixen had triggered something in his head, an old, muddy memory.

_Mother...?_

Specks of sunlight flickering in his eyes, though the cover of a torn hessian blanket. Little voices in the background, muttering in a language he could almost speak...

_I remember..._

A wizened, weathered kitsune face peeking in through the fissures of the cloth. Four thick scars across one eye, an ear split in half from an age-old scuffle and healed-over.

A tear rolled down his cheek, soaking into his fur with its warmth.

_I remember!_

"Yo!" Sonic's voice snapped him out of his stupor. "We're _waaaiiting!_"

He sniffed, wiping his nose on the back of his arm, and broke into a jog, heading for the light.

* * *

Sonic was certainly no stranger to keeping strange company or strange places, especially these days.

But nothing could have prepared him for what he saw when they finally reached the end of the tunnel, and the dull glow of the morning sun hit his face.

"Holy crap..."

The high-pitched screech of a bird in the distance punctuated his own sharp gasp at the sight before them. They'd arrived in a giant crater, millions of tons of rock blasted into oblivion ages ago by what appeared to be a massive, downed space ship. The forest overhead was thick and unforgiving, seemingly having taken this enormous foreign object in and simply assimilated it, thick trees and vines weaving in and out of its gigantic body.

Two gigantic, charred thrusters protruded from each the back and sides of the monstrosity, parts of the ship's mammoth hull glimmering with a dull sheen, amidst an ages-old blanket of rust.

Tails stood beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder, saying nothing.

"Hey, uh, whatever your name is," Sonic called out after the vixen. She'd set off now down the length of the crater towards the crashed cruiser, her pace quickening as she walked. "What is this thing?"

"Gorromandas!" she called back, throwing her arms out. "The metal chariot that fell from the stars!"

"You've got to be kidding," Sonic whispered, looking over at his old friend. "This? This is your camp?" He quickened his pace, feeling more uneasy every second. "No wonder you had so much trouble finding this place. It's half-buried."

"Yeah..." Tails breathed, awestruck. They kept walking towards the enormous figure, but it didn't seem to get any bigger. It just towered menacingly over them. A thunderous clang of screeching metal came out of nowhere, echoing off the sides of the canyon. What an event it must've been, for this thing to have fallen right out of the sky and smashed into the planet's surface.

As they got closer, following in the mysterious kitsune vixen's wake, they could make out more of the details. Crude fences had been erected out of wrought iron and barbed wire, and a few warriors, dressed in little more than the shoulder pads and boots their host was wearing, stood here and there, donning what looked to be shoulder-mounted RPGs.

"Hurry yourself, Miles Prower!" the vixen called out. "Stay close, lest the drones shoot you and the ghu-rah down."

"Hey..." Tails broke into a sprint, falling in at her side. "You never told us your name..."

"Hmph," she sneered over her shoulder at him. "Fiona."

His eyes flickered between hers and the soldiers at the perimeter. "Uh... well met, Fiona."

"Hmph."

Sonic listened on, filing the name away for future reference. Looking up at the underbelly of the ponderous husk of the spacecraft, he could make out a heavily corroded emblem, and a series of heavily corroded words:

_C114-85EKLS_

_MAGDALENE_

_EX UMBRA IN SOLEM_

It was written in the same set of characters Robotnik had used in his systems.

"How long ago did this thing rock up, anyway?" he asked.

"Gorromandas fell when I was this high." Fiona told him, levelling her hand to about waist-level. "The kitsune have no need for the counting of years."

He looked at Tails as he spoke. "No ballpark figures?"

"You ask too many questions, ghu-rah. Shut your mouth, lest I throw you to the gatherers. They will fashion spears with your bones."

Sonic acquiesced.

One of the guards leered at Sonic as he passed, with an evil grin full of razor-sharp teeth. "_Ghu-raaaaaah._"

Tails could feel his gut tightening up inside of him, feeling the dozens of hard kitsune eyes upon him as they moved. Whatever expectations of a warm reception he'd had were now shattered - even now he wasn't sure if he was in store for a welcoming feast or a quick, hopeless fight before they'd be feeding pieces of Sonic and himself to the crows.

Whatever was going to happen, he could see by the look on Sonic's face, that his friend had already come to the same conclusion. Their chance to turn back had come and gone, long ago.

Finally, they arrived at the main gate, a small hatch to the ship's interior laying open in the side. Beyond that, they could only make out a faint flicker of torchlight.

Fiona stopped at the edge of the hatch, motioning for them to get in. "Welcome."

Tails tried to peer into the hole, but could barely make anything out inside. "What do you plan to do with us, Fiona?"

She smirked, looking at him over her shoulder one more time before she disappeared inside the ship. "Not my decision. Father will say."

The kitsune had been clever about adapting the Magdalene to their uses, despite their lack of understanding at its intended workings; the cold steel halls were lit with bowls filled with hot coals, but each had been placed under an air duct so as to allow the smoke to escape easily. The place smelled of burning oil and fried circuitry. Down the hall, they could hear noise, loud jeering and laughing, footsteps, the clamour of metal scraping against metal.

"You see all the words on the walls in this joint?" Sonic whispered. "It's in 'Buttnik's writing..."

"Yeah, I noticed." It certainly struck Tails as something of Robotnik's making. "You think this was one of his ships? Maybe it was out here scouting, and it crashed."

"What woulda caused something like that to happen?" the hedgehog asked.

Tails could only offer a shrug for an answer. Who could know? It seemed far too large for a scout ship anyway, unless it was one decked out for an invasion - which seemed feasible, if it was indeed Robotnik's handiwork.

"There's no power on in this ship," Tails said, looking in Fiona's direction.

"The kitsune do not need the magic used by pinks," she growled. "Kitsune make our own."

"Pinks?" Sonic blinked, still having trouble adjusting to the dark. "You mean, humans?"

"Mm."

Before Tails could ask more, Fiona had rounded a corner, and gone through another door. As soon as they followed her through, he caught his breath. They'd found the bridge.

It was like walking into a party where nobody you knew was present - and the music stopped as soon as you set foot inside. There were kitsune everywhere on the bridge - all looking right at Sonic and Tails.

The floor was lined with carpet here, but it was clearly not part of the ship's design; it was a patchwork quilt of animal furs. The walls were adorned with hanging leather, crude swords, shields and artillery dangling from the ceiling.

"Anyone ever tell you, you've got some messed up relatives?" Sonic smirked.

They moved along the fur carpet behind Fiona, up to the captain's chair - and in it sat the largest kitsune Tails had yet witnessed. He was a mammoth, all armour-plated muscle, and dark silver fur. Apparently, he was the boss of this little party.

"Padra," Fiona bowed politely as she came to greet him. "Am acund o kasun ca ghu-rah pe oscuroh Reve-Na."

"Oscuroh Reve-Na?" the chief smirked. "Fac-a chea?"

Fiona chuckled as she said it. "Khe-na-sa opule!"

The entire room erupted into outrageous laughter, making Tails and Sonic both feel like crawling under the rugs. The fact that they couldn't even understand what was being said served only to fuel their frustration.

"Ssshhh," the chief held up a massive paw, putting a stop to the callous cheers and shouts immediately. "Ca ea gascuh?"

Fiona's eyes lit up as she spoke. "Prower! Miles ei-gascuh Prower!"

Tails' ears pricked up at the sound of some of the other kitsune whispering to each other. Turning his head, he saw in his peripheral vision some of them quietly leaving the room.

"Hm..." the chief rumbled quietly. He raised to his feet, clapping his hands together, and gestured out to the rest of the crowd. "Ogula! Acuma!"

As soon as he'd spoken, the room was empty.

He turned to Tails as he slowly took his seat again. "Now..." he said, voice bassy and raspy. "Do you speak the Mobian tongue?"

"Usually," Sonic nodded.

"Where are you from?"

"We're from Mobius South," Tails inclined his head. "We came here five years ago, looking for other kitsune. I'd grown up thinking I was the last one alive..."

The chief frowned, deep creases forming in his brow. "My daughter tells me you are of the Prower clan. What became of the rest of your family?"

Tails stood up as straight as he could, throwing his shoulders back. "There was a coup, when I was very young. I suspect they were killed."

"I see." He leaned forward to shake Tails' hand. "You may call me Angiris. I command the kitsune in Duruga. Now, tell your hedgehog friend to go home, and come with me. We have a great deal to talk about, young Miles."

"What?" Sonic shook his head. "Go home? After coming all this way?"

"You leave, or you die." Angiris' eyes narrowed. "You are ghu-rah. We do not welcome the weak. We kill them."

"Pfft," Sonic turned around, waving a hand behind his head. "Fine. Let's blow this joint, Tails. Your family sucks, anyway."

Tails grimaced. He was right. These kitsune were nothing like he'd hoped for them to be. They were exactly as Morris had said they were - a pack of bloodthirsty savages.

"Don't tell me you intend to leave with him?" Angiris cackled.

"Why not?" Tails growled. "All this time I'd thought being a kitsune was something to be proud of. Now I see I should be more ashamed than anything. You're nothing like the family that reared me. My kind are back on Mobius, just like everyone kept telling me..."

Surprisingly, he found himself blinking back tears. He'd been prepared for every kind of disappointment except this.

He began to turn, hanging his head low, and headed for the door.

"Your clan are among the highest respected of this enclave!" Angiris called out after him. "You have clan mates here. Blood relatives. You shame them by turning your back, after you have just found us!"

"Then they shame themselves enough by even choosing to be here!"

"Wait!" Fiona cried out. "Stay! Please. The hedgehog may stay too."

Sonic stopped in his tracks.

"Fiona!" Angiris rumbled, glaring at her.

"Let him stay for a time," Fiona growled back, looking her father in the eye. "Let them both see that the kitsune are not without honour."

"We have never provided shelter for a ghu-rah!" Angiris shouted. "Our kindred will rip him to shreds!"

Now was Sonic's turn to get offended: "Alright, pops, look. I can take care of myself. You ain't ever met a hedgehog this fast in your life, and I'll bet you've never seen one who knows how to fight, either. So you can pass your judgement, after you've had a taste of ass-kicking, Sonic style!"

"Big words for a ghu-rah!" Angiris laughed heartily. "I would like to see you try, little hedgehog."

Sonic crouched low, ready to fight. "Bring it on, you old fart! You ain't too bright if you want to dance with me."

Tails ran a palm over his face. Fiona backed up, folding her arms. She smirked at the challenge, looking on with some mild curiosity.

Before anyone had a chance to blink, Angiris sprung out of his chair, reached above and caught a hold of a battle staff that had been hung from the rafters. He brought the bladed end down on Sonic with unprecedented force and speed, but Sonic was already out of the way. The blade smashed down into the metal plating, sending sparks flying.

Angiris didn't stop. He swung around, seeing the blue blur in the corner of his vision, and brought the staff crashing through. Sonic jumped over it as it came through, feeling the blade just barely nicking the toe of his shoe. Before he even landed, the kitsune chief had recovered and taken another swing, which Sonic was only just able to duck. When it came around for a third time, he grabbed hold of it and hopped up on top.

"Huh-" Angiris' eyes widened as the ghu-rah ran right up the length of the weapon, leaping in to the air to plant a foot square in the centre of his face.

"Heheh!" Sonic landed elegantly on the opposite side of the room, watching his adversary stumbling, clutching onto his bleeding nose. "You're fast, but you ain't ever gonna be fast enough with all that weight behind you."

"I'm impressed, ghu-rah," he growled, an evil grin forming. "But if your speed is your only trick, you'd better yield!"

Sonic laughed, blowing a raspberry at him. "Ready for round two?"

"Hsss!" Angiris' eyes flared up white hot, just like Tails' had done in the past.

Sonic came at him hard and fast, leaping up and somersaulting right over his head, and bouncing off the wall. But Angiris was prepared this time, bringing his staff up to meet the hedgehog's assault.

Tails found himself struggling to keep his composure as he looked on. He knew Sonic, and Sonic wasn't into killing others if he won in a fight against them. Evidently, the same did not hold true with Angiris. The blade of his staff was deadly sharp, easily capable of severing a limb if it made contact.

"Is your friend stupid?" Fiona whispered. "Tell him to yield. My father does not show quarter."

Tails frowned, his heart pounding in his chest. He knew Sonic well enough to be acutely aware that Sonic would never yield. He was just too proud.

Sonic bounced back from the staff quickly, breaking it in two, reaching up to swing from the steel rafters above and rolling to his feet on the opposite side of the room again. Before he could get his bearings, he felt a searing white flame envelop his body. He almost collapsed from the pain, but managed to reach out and grab the wall near him, barely staying upright.

"Uh-oh..." He looked up just in time to see the butt of Angiris' staff come around and smack him in the forehead, sending him reeling. In the next second, the blade came at him. He ducked out of the way, but it sliced him in the arm, a spray of blood coating the wall near him.

"Sonic!" Tails shouted. "Yield to him, you idiot!"

Angiris towered over him, conjuring up another crackling ball of electric fire in his hands. "Better listen to your friend, ghu-rah," he sneered, eyes glowing.

Sonic cowered in the corner, a hand over the massive gash in his arm, trying to stop the blood from pumping out of the deep wound. "I ain't no quitter..."

The massive grey kitsune laughed, letting the fireball forth with a thunderous clap. The ball caught the hedgehog with full force, sending the waves of intense pain shooting through his body once again - but this time, he didn't even flinch from it - instead, he went onto a spin-dash, sending all of the rugs beneath him flying to fall into pile against the wall.

Angiris was caught completely off-guard as the hedgehog smashed into his chest at one hundred kilometres per hour, sending him crashing into the wall, the vibrations from the impact causing several of the room's fittings to fall and clatter against the ground.

"Aaaagh..." He keeled forward as he fell to his knees, clutching at his bleeding chest with one arm and raising the other in a futile attempt at blocking.

In the next fraction of a second, Sonic leaped up to kick his hand out of the way, wielding the blunt end of the broken battlestaff like it were a baseball bat, and knocked the kitsune for a six to go tumbling straight into Fiona. Tails dived out of the way right before the two bodies were sent straight into the massive chief's chair, bringing it end-over-end to slam into a set of long-unused computer consoles, sending shards of glass flying everywhere.

Sonic wasted no time in scooping up the bladed end of the battlestaff, and striding over, hopping the upended throne with ease, blood still pouring from his arm.

Tails held his breath as he watched the procession, frozen in place.

Fiona backed up and stumbled to her feet, suddenly more fearful than ever. Angiris was still on the ground, just barely conscious after blow he'd suffered at Sonic's hands.

Now, the hedgehog - the one that had seemed nothing more than a pathetic piece of game the Prower had dragged in with him - stood over him, blade in hand, face stony and grim in the crimson torchlight.

"Sonic!" Tails called out. "Are you nuts? You won!"

Fiona fought every instinct in her body that told her to intervene. But this was a duel - and kitsune did not deny other kitsune of the right to live or die by the will of the fight. Not even if it was their father.

"No!" she cried out, her eyes glowing.

Sonic slowly raised the blade to Angiris' face, the tip resting gently on the end of his nose.

"Gotcha!" he laughed, tossing the blade aside.

Tails and Fiona let out a sigh of relief in unison.

Angiris didn't seem too fazed by the loss, but he still slapped Sonic's hand out of the way when the hedgehog offered it, and rose achingly to his feet. "You had a perfect opening to kill me. Why didn't you do it?"

"That's not how we roll, where we come from."

"I see. Well..." he huffed, his massive armoured chest rising and falling, "You know what? I think I like you, ghu-rah. Fiona, tend to his arm, and prepare a bed for them both."

"Me?" Fiona stammered, her ears folding back.

"Yes, you. Go. And Miles, if you would, I'd like to show you a few things."

Tails frowned. "We still haven't said we'd be staying."

"You've travelled for five years in search of this place, and now you are here!" Angiris chuckled, resting one huge paw on his shoulder. "Indulge yourself. Perhaps we'll make a proud kitsune of you yet."

He had a point. Five years was a lot of time to throw away.

* * *

"Ow, ow, ow!" Sonic sucked a breath through gritted teeth as she rubbed some of the strange powder into his wound.

"You cry like a baby, ghu-rah," Fiona groaned, reaching for another handful. "I should have let you both sail into the waters. Then I would not be reduced to playing the role of nurse for a soft-flesh outsider!"

Sonic grinned. "Hey, don't act so cheery. I sure showed your old man a thing or two back there about what us 'ghu-rah' can do, didn't I?" He flinched as she threw some more of the grey powder around the fissure liberally, letting it soak up all the blood. He'd expected it to still sting the second time, but whatever it was she was using, it seemed to have the effect of a local anaesthetic. When she gently pinched the two sides of ragged gash together, he could feel the pressure, but no pain.

"If you'd shown mercy in a true duel for even a second, you would be dead."

"I couldn't say I don't love a good brawl," Sonic smirked. "But I don't do killing. We're all flesh and blood. We all feel the same things. I don't feel like dying, so I don't wish it on anyone else."

She glared at him, as if what he'd said was nothing short of blasphemous. "Any true warrior must always be ready to die in combat! Else, they should not be in the fight!"

"Well, I was in a fight just now, and I wasn't ready to die."

She looked at him with a mix of curiosity and sheer repulsion. "Then what if Angiris were the one holding a blade to your head? Would you be on your knees, whelp? Begging for your pathetic life?"

Sonic shrugged, taking the insult in stride. "Never had to think about it. I've never lost a fight."

"Hmph." She reached into her pouch, and pulled out a crude hook-shaped needle, with some thin scrapings of a vine dangling off of it. "You dance close to the fire, ghu-rah. One day, you will burn."

"Uh..." Sonic's eyes widened at the sight of the hook. "Is _that _thing supposed to be your idea of a suture kit?"

* * *

"So am I to understand this hedgehog is your... surrogate?" Angiris almost choked the words out, so little could he believe what he was hearing.

"He was more like a big brother," Tails said. "Him and another Mobian, the princess. But they all took care of me when I was growing up."

"It's little wonder you've come out as soft as you have."

He'd laid out the basic story of his formative years over the last half-hour, to Angiris' great interest. In return, Angiris had given Tails a quick grand tour of Gorromandas, the name the kitsune had given the 'Magdalene', the crashed space vessel that they had chosen to make their home.

Tails had kept a sharp eye out as the moved among the halls. When they came to some of the more spacious areas of the ship, it triggered something in his mind. Plenty of it had been converted to suit their taste for decor using elements of the jungle outside, as well as shards of bone and strips of animal furs, but he also saw what had very clearly once been some kind of lab; computer terminals, Bunsen burners, some smashed microscopes. There were stands that were clearly intended for holding test tubes and beakers, but though there was no sign of any loose glassware.

"This was a research vessel," he breathed.

"Probably," Angiris shrugged. "It came down over a decade ago, when we were had made our home some way to the north-east of here, nestled within the mountains. When we investigated, we found little in the way of resistance, and it has proven to work well as a fortified shelter. We have adapted some of their defensive technologies for our own ends, but we did not venture far further than some modest attempts at restoration."

Tails looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. "Fiona told us that it was because you didn't need any of the ship's functions." Tails had grown tall, but Angiris dwarfed him still.

Angiris coughed loudly, making the walls vibrate. "My daughter is proud and headstrong, like her father in his youth. If something is beyond her reach, she will sing that she never needed it. Such is hubris, I suppose. But yes, if we could restore functionality to the reactor, it would certainly work to our benefit."

"What's wrong with it?"

"I do not concern myself with such technicalities. Perhaps you should find out yourself some time, if you think you could offer any assistance."

Tails nodded. "I might do that."

He'd found himself warming to Angiris as they'd talked. Clearly he was as ruthless and brutal as the next kitsune, probably even more so, but he also seemed reasonable, and genuinely interested in Tails' stories of the western continent. Perhaps these folk had more layers than he thought. For the sake of his pride, and this expedition, he surely hoped so.

"Alas, I have things that need doing..." the chief announced. " I will need to be on my way, young Miles. Perhaps you should familiarise yourself with this place, and check up on your hedgehog friend. Then seek out your clan mates and get some rest, and find me in the morning. I want to hear more about your life on Mobius."

"Uh, sure," Tails said, watching him stride off slowly, hands behind his back. He'd not expected such interest from the kitsune leader. Part of him seemed uneasy about it, but it'd surely been an age since he'd been able to talk about anything to anyone besides Sonic, and it had hitherto, proven to be nothing if not a stimulating exercise.

After standing still in the hall for a moment, it occurred to Tails that Angiris had not even said goodbye.

Shrugging the thought off, Tails focused his attention to some of the old computer terminals in the lab. The keyboards were arranged in a QWERTY configuration, just like Robotnik had used. Most of the screens were shattered beyond repair, but one sat conspicuously intact upon one of the desks. No other loose laptop computers were present; it seemed, someone else had found this one and brought it out to try and test it.

He picked the terminal up, blew the thick layer of dust off the top, and opened it. Naturally, after over ten years, it had long since run out of charge. He flipped the computer over and examined the bottom, using a claw to pry off the battery cover.

The battery he pulled out looked familiar: small, blue and cylindrical. He recalled using a similar battery in his flashlight, that had been filched from Robotnik's stores ages ago.

He pulled the flashlight out of his pack, emptied out the battery and placed them side by side. Identical.

It was a long shot, of course. The battery had not been recharged since he'd left the continent of Mobius, but his good night vision and the fact that it was a long-life battery meant he was in with a chance.

He popped the cell from his flashlight inside the computer's bay, and replaced the cover.

Flipping the terminal over again, he hit the 'power' button.

"Haha!" He laughed to himself, feeling a sense of quiet pride flow through him. The power button lit up green, and the screen dumped him to a black command line.

_WARNING: Low power. X has failed to start. Falling back to failsafe..._

_username:_

His first thought was to guess. He typed in 'admin'.

_username: admin_

_password:_

He tried a few things, but none of them seemed to work. Eventually, he simply just tried hitting 'return' on the keyboard:

_username: admin_

_password: *********_

_Sorry, try again._

_username: admin_

_password: ******_

_Sorry, try again._

_username: admin_

_password: ***************_

_Sorry, try again._

_username: admin_

_password:_

_admin#mag13:$_

"Yes!"

He was in.

Sally had taught him some of this. He barely remembered, but it was worth a try, if only out of curiosity. Perhaps, if he dug in enough, he'd be able to decipher some of the reason this ship was here.

_admin#mag13:$ ls_

_Directory listing of '/':_

_bin_

_dev_

_etc_

_lib256_

_home_

_media_

_mnt_

_usr_

_opt_

_admin#mag13:$ cd home_

_admin#mag13:/home$ ls_

_Directory listing of '/home':_

_Documents_

_Downloads_

_Pictures_

_readme_

The file named 'readme' looked interesting, but he could barely remember his way around the terminal; it'd been so long since he'd been given the chance to put any of this knowledge to use. Usually it had been handled by Sally, or she'd simply plug Nicole in and let her do the lot. What was it again?

_admin#mag13:/home$ open readme_

_open: command not found_

_admin#mag13:/home$ nano readme_

Bingo.

_GNU Nano 2.2.4 File: readme_

_To whomever may read this,_

_I suppose I will be dead if this note should be discovered by a rescue party. Please let it be known that I face my death with full knowledge that my circumstances are the result of my actions and mine alone. Ten days ago I commandeered the Magdalene with a full research and ship crew at my side, without the consent of the institute commander. I knew the chances of my safe return were slim, though the crew did not, but I felt confident that should I return with what I'd sought to find, I would not only be pardoned but commended for my initiative._

_Three weeks ago my direct superior, Dr. Julian Kintobor, launched an experiment involving himself and his second assistant and nephew, Colin. We had been working on a revolutionary teleportation system, the world's first truly working teleporter that was small enough for instantaneous travel anywhere in the universe without the need of a hyperspace drive and the entire space vessel attached to it._

_All other forms of transport, after this, would be rendered essentially obsolete if it were to succeed, truly a massive, massive step forward for the human race as we reach out further and further from our beloved planet Earth; however, Julian is jealous and intensely paranoid; while there's no doubt that my mentor is a genius and prodigy of the highest order, he never has functioned well as a team member. All of his notes were kept in one place - his head. All of his source code is closed and encrypted, accessible only by him, meaning if he were to disappear - as he has, incidentally, no one would be able to follow his work._

_This has proven to work to his detriment. Colin and himself stepped inside the teleport chamber, with the intention of being simply translocated across the room; instead, they both simply vanished. It was simply an elementary mistake; we had run the test a thousand times, inputting the same coordinates to transport some inanimate objects, and all had worked with a success rate of 100%. In this, of all instances, he had put two sets of coordinates around the wrong way._

_When nobody saw them again the next day, I went into a state of shock. My colleagues, when they learned of the incident, assumed him dead, and went about their business. Not an unreasonable assumption; after all, a bad set of destination coordinates would more often than not mean instant death, such as the (very likely) cases of teleporting inside of the earth or out in space._

_But this is one thing in my life - the first thing - that I feel I have been a true part of. The first time I have not simply been some spoiled, rich brat watching from the sidelines. I had put too much of my blood, sweat and tears into helping to develop this technology to see it simply discarded with the trash!_

_Robotnik and Colin had both taken the trip together, leaving one free activation of the teleport before it would need reprogramming - a procedure that, like many other things, Dr. Kintobor had not been willing to divulge to anyone. I used it to send a long-distance spy probe through._

_What I saw was beyond my wildest belief of what could be possible in this existence: the chances of this happening are literally less than a thousand billion to one! The spy probe had come out on the other side and into this... other world, a complete civilisation, full of bipedal creatures, with an atmosphere of its own... I can hardly fathom at what kind of air that atmosphere contained. It would not be far fetched to think that even if they had survived the transportation intact, they would choke to death immediately after arrival. But if not... then they could be still alive._

_When I relayed news of this to the board of directors, they seemed amused, but not much concerned. They had already navigated through the prickly process of not only relaying the news of Julian and Colin's deaths to their families (apparently the news was not received with any great amount of sadness, much to my disgust) and walked the legal minefield that followed. To this day I regret my idiotic lack of forethought here: in my haste, I had not recorded the output of the spy drone to disk to use as evidence. It simply vanished after I saw it - another result of my emotions ruling my actions, an affliction I have been prone to over most of my life. Without sufficient evidence of a chance of successful recovery, they refused my repeated requests to mount a rescue mission to follow these new coordinates via one of their FLT ships, and threatened to strip me of my position if I persisted. Eventually, I fell quiet._

_But when two weeks had passed, I had had enough. Years of research lived in that man's head. MY research. I would not let the doctor's mistake deny me of the recognition I deserved. I spent the entirety of the last week preparing an expedition, to take one of the FLT ships, the Magdalene, and supply it with a crew, funded out of my own inheritance, to make the jump to this world and retrieve Julian and Colin. I had no idea of the hostility this world could possess so we did not skimp on security or offensive measures. By the time the board had lowered themselves down from their perch far enough to know something was amiss, we had already made the jump._

_But my calculations were wrong. I had set a path that, apparently, had put us too close to the planet to gauge the safety of landing. The ship's engineers had warned me of this, but I had paid them no heed. I should have._

_This planet has an intense gravitational pull, almost twice as strong and far-reaching as that of Earth. We were caught inside the atmosphere before we even knew where we were, and the Magdalene was reeled in like a fish. The engineers pulled all of their power to the drives but we were too soon out of the jump; the ship's reactor had not regained enough charge and we sank like a rock. The impact happened yesterday morning, while I was asleep._

_I suffered two broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder - apparently, I got off incredibly lucky. The vast majority of the ship's seventy-odd member crew were killed on impact. I managed to regroup with some others, but none of us are particularly skilled in the art of survival; nonetheless, we will seek a way to salvage this situation._

_If you discover this note, please ensure Julian's safety, by whatever tiny particle of hope there may be that he survives to the day._

_Maybe I should make this an obituary, a kind of farewell note... I don't know. I am crying as I type this. I wonder, now, if perhaps I will still live on in some way. Maybe not in this body, or this personality. Maybe somehow through that little device Julian had. I never looked to see if he had taken it through the teleport or not._

_May I be remembered as a selfless, intrepid woman. May my actions here serve to record that I was NOT the useless, spineless child that my parents dismissed me to be._

_Courtney Russell_

_Lab Assistant 470_

_Eckel University of Technology_

_Ex umbra in solem._


	4. NPOV

_This marks the beginning of probably, some slightly shorter and (ideally) more frequently posted chapters. I'm a bit concerned with the tl;dr-ness of some chapters prior, so I'll save the heavy stuff for when things heat up down the line. _

_I'll also be mirroring all of this content on DeviantArt soon, so you may prefer to read these chapters there, where they're a bit less compromised from a formatting perspective: sand-and-mercury(dot)deviantart(dot)com._

**-= N.P.O.V. =-**

**I. The Art**

The first thing Fiona noticed when she entered her father's throne room - the room the Ghu-rah and the pup had called the 'bridge' - was the lights. They were turned on. She'd never seen the lights in Gorromandas on before. The long-life energy saver tubes glowed in a harsh, artificial white that offended her senses, and with a hum that did little to put her at ease.

This was magic made by the pinks, those foreigners that had fallen out of the sky that fateful year. A deadened husk of a ship, she had no problem with. The dead, and their dead handiwork, could be trusted.

Anything that lived, and that was not Kitsune, could not.

"Honourable padra," she said in Kitsune as she bowed, her matted, crimson fringe falling over her eyes. "You sent for me."

Angiris leaned back in his throne, framed by the cold fluorescent glow of the screens behind him. "Do you like the lights, daughter? It seems our pup from the West has brought some unique talents with him."

"He knows pink magic," she scowled, squinting at the glare. Her father was barely visible against it, just a massive, black shadow. "I don't approve of him appropriating it. We cannot trust him yet."

"When I showed him the core of this chariot, he breathed life into it like it was second nature. He's been shown how to do it... and frankly, he seems too confused to even consider trying to betray us at this point. He's young, and he's pliable. So don't worry."

_He's a pathetic coward, _she thought. The fact alone that he associated with one of their prey - even one as apparently capable as Sonic, was shameful in itself. But to rub salt in the wound, he actually allowed the Ghu-rah to lead! "Pliable, is certainly one word I'd use. He is as soft and bewildered as a newborn."

"You'll keep your judgements well reserved, daughter. You may have done us a great service by bringing him in to the Enclave. Obviously, you're well aware of his... history?"

Ah, yes. _That_ history. "Where are you going with this, padra?"

"For the longest time, we'd believed the Prower clan had simply perished when we'd sent them on their expedition to the West. Even if they didn't survive long enough to relay their findings to us, he is a natural citizen, and has enjoyed the life of one. He may stand to serve the purposes his parents had sought to fulfill, better than they ever would have. He could be the representative of our kind in the West, that we've always wanted."

"You mean we are to send him back to Mobius to pander to the whims of their soft-skinned game? Pox on it!" Fiona snarled, her ears folding back. "Kitsune do not waste their time on politics! Tradition dictates that we say our piece with the spilling of blood!"

"Ah-ah," Angiris held up a finger. He was grinning, but his voice carried the commanding tone that made the noblest warriors of the Enclave bow at his feet. "Perhaps that is our history, daughter. Your mother has filled your head with stories of conquest and glory, but times are changing. Other species happily live and die by the pen, in the arena of politics and diplomacy. Where the situation calls for it, there is merit in the idea."

"Feh," His daughter screwed up her nose, trying to keep her gaze free of the migraine-inducing haze of the monitors behind him. "You've sent for me for a reason. What of it, padra?"

"Miles and the hedgehog will be our guests of honour, Fiona. Henceforth, you will spend every waking hour of your day making them feel as welcome as possible, and teach them the ways of our kind. Am I understood?"

Fiona physically recoiled at the proposition, like he'd just smacked her in the face. "There are far more suitable warriors in this enclave to handle such a task."

"None are more respected than you, besides myself. I still have to concern myself with the day-to-day responsibilities of managing the Enclave. None of our kindred will even consider touching either the pup or the hedgehog with you in sight."

"Padra, if this is your idea of some sick joke, I am not amused!"

Angiris raised to his feet, leaning over her, his entire frame crackling briefly with ethereal fire. "If I hear one more quip out of you regarding this, daughter, Gorromandas will no longer be your home!"

The kitsune princess sank her head back into her shoulders, ears folding back against her scalp. "I..."

"You may have put us onto the chance of our lifetime. Do you not recall the legends of the Antithesis?"

Fiona's heart sank. She knew where this was going. "Yes."

"If we wish to discover it, we will need the blessing of the West. They will not just hand it over. Learn from Miles and Sonic, everything you can. I want you catering to their every whim!"

She felt her bottom lip curling, but she knew better than to defy the chief of the Kitsune Enclave. He would not make exceptions for her, and the word of the chief was law. She'd learned well even when she was a pup, that he was her master first, and her father a distant second. "I will do as you say, padra."

"Excellent. You can start by checking up on them now, then."

Fiona bowed, and turned to take her leave, her gut churning the whole way. Deception was a game for the weak, not for a Kitsune. But all the same, despite her fuming, she could at least grasp some of the wisdom that drove her father. Even if... deeper down, she could sense the tendrils of something else that motivated him, something far more sinister than textbook war logic.

In any case, the mantra was obvious.

Keep your friends close. Keep your enemies closer.

* * *

"Miles..."

Tails turned over, opening his eyes and shutting them again quickly when the unwelcome light poured into them.

"Miles, wake up."

"M..." He peeked through the slits in his eyes, just barely making out the shape. "Marr?"

"Who?" It was Fiona. "Wake up, whelp. We're going."

Tails looked over across the room at Sonic, who was asleep in the other bunk. They'd found one of the old crew quarters to crash in the night before, and no one seemed to object when they'd moved in.

"Get up!" She kicked him in the ribs, enough to burst his eyes open and get him shuffle quickly to his feet. "We are going."

"Jeez, do you have to be so rough?" Tails growled, rubbing his eyes. "Where are we going?"

She reached for the thick leather strap that bound her chest plate to her body, giving it a firm tug. "It is time for breakfast."

"Alright, alright." Tails threw the thin sheets off, and reached for his Brotherhood vest. "Give me a minute."

With a sigh, Fiona reached over, grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him out of the room with her, shoving a pair of shoulder pads, and a crude leather cuirass under his arm.

"What's this for?" He asked as they walked, wincing with some mild pain. Fiona hadn't tightened her grip on his arm, and she was now yanking him along like a stubborn pet behind her.

"They are for the hunt!" Fiona told him, rolling her eyes.

"My Brotherhood uniform worked for me," Tails said. "Can't I just use that?"

She stopped and turned to look at him. "Okay, whelp. First lesson. You want to be one of us, you do not dress like ghu-rah. And you do not do the hunt with all that soft flesh bared for the wild to taste."

When they finally reached the ship's cargo bay and dropped back to the planet's surface, the sky still retained its deep purple pallor. The first streaks of sun were just beginning to break through the horizon, but it was still a while off rising. It was no wonder he'd had so much trouble waking up - he'd barely been asleep for perhaps four hours at best, and she was already dragging him out into the wilderness.

He had to admit though, the view of the trench in the morning was quite a sight. The air had a delicious, tropical taste in it. The wind was dry and refreshing against his skin.

The other kitsune leered at him just as they began crossing the gravelly patch that separated the ship from the trench, but their gaze deflected quickly elsewhere when they saw Fiona making eye contact. It was obvious already that she held a great amount of respect in Gorromandas, and for reasons that had nothing to do with the fact that her father was in charge. She moved about brashly but gracefully, so completely sure of herself that it was almost entrancing for Tails. He probably had the strength to resist her, but something about her manner had disarmed him. He felt all too happy to follow her wherever she went.

They neared the edge of the clearing, when Fiona stopped again and turned to him. "Are you already exhausted?"

Tails realised his mouth was hanging open and shut it quickly. "No. I'm just... not totally with it, yet."

"With what, yet?"

"Never mind." He shook his head, awkwardly trying to fasten the shoulder plate onto his arm with the straps. There was a lot of leather to go around, but no buckle; he had to tie it all together, the lace feeding through a dozen tiny holes in the plate that he was having trouble seeing properly in the light, let alone feeding it through.

She sighed again, and slapped his hands out of the way. She fed the lace through quickly and cleanly, then pulled it tight against Tails' arm. "Flex your arm, make sure the plate moves with it properly."

Tails watched her, watching him, as he shrugged his shoulder a little, flexing and unflexing the muscle. "It feels good."

"Okay, now the other one..." She moved around to his left side, and placed the shoulder pad on, yanking the lace hard enough to make Tails wince again. "Count yourself lucky we are out of sight from the others, whelp. I have never had to stoop to babysitting for any other Kitsune."

Tails scowled at her, pulling his arm free of her hands. "What is it with you, Fiona? I never asked for your help, okay? Has it still not occurred to you that this might all be a bit new to me?"

"Do you think I am any happier doing this for you, whelp?" she shouted at him, making him lean back a bit. She took a step forward at him, her fiery red hair trailing along behind her. "The chief tells me I must coddle you like a baby, 'til you finish your crying. So that is what I do. Do not complain!"

_Oh, so that's what this is all about? _Tails thought. "I should've guessed someone would've put you up to this. Gods forbid you'd actually be motivated to help me out under your own steam."

Fiona's top lip began to curl, exposing a few sharp canines. "I am warning you, whelp..."

"No, screw this!" Tails pulled the laces in his shoulder pads free, and tossed them at her feet. "Why did you even insist that I stay in this stupid family of yours, if you're not going to make any effort to cut me any slack? I don't know how things work for your kind, but where I come from, we help new people. We ease them in and we show some respect!"

Fiona's eyebrows raised a little.

_No one is looking. Murder him now, tell the others the new Kitsune boy died in tragic accident. Father is angered, hedgehog leaves. Status quo restored._

_No one is looking. Make amends, give the Kitsune boy a chance. Continue this silly farce and quench father's ridiculous thirst for power..._

"Ugh..." She grimaced, turning away. "_Pol kohsa,_" she muttered under her breath.

Tails' eyes narrowed even further, and he took a step back towards her. "What's that mean?"

Fiona stared back at him, grimacing like she'd just swallowed something off.

"What does it mean?" he shouted.

"It means..." she growled, her voice barely audible. "It means, 'I'm sorry'. Okay? Happy?"

They stared at each other for a minute, then down at the pieces of Kitsune armour, still lying in the grass.

Tails crouched down and picked them up, giving her a bashful look. "Uh... could you show me how to put these on again?"

**II. Good Lies, Bad Lies**

_KING OF THE NORTH DEAD?_

_The Mobius South Swan received word from a source very close to the Acorn throne who did not wish to be named, that Lord Christof, Grandmaster of the Brotherhood of Thamael and de-facto ruler of Mobius North, was murdered in cold blood a mere two nights ago, along with two of his administrative assistants._

_This news comes as a shocking revelation following the unexpected postponement of a press conference that was scheduled to be held yesterday by both Queen Nicole and Lord Christof, to address the public's concerns over the simmering tensions between the North and South states of Mobius._

_Even more disturbing is the rampant speculation that Queen Nicole herself may be the one responsible for the murders. _

"_What we need to keep in mind is, that Nicole's an android. She's enabled by technology that was originally conceived over the course of Robotnik's rule," the source surmised. "Advanced as it may be, no invention of man or Mobian alike is perfect, and especially as a prototype, and one-of-a-kind, Nicole's mind or body might've simply snapped, or malfunctioned in some way. All I can say is, I know what I saw."_

_Lupe of the Wolfpack, as acting spokesperson for the Acorn Empire, declined to comment on the matter at yesterday's announcement, simply stating that Nicole and Christof's conference would not go ahead and leaving shortly after._

Griff had never really gotten used to the way the sunlight hit his face in the mornings. He'd been used to the glow of the power crystal they'd used underground, but it was a different kind of light; it did not have the punch of a ray of sun in the Mobian summer. He stared out the window, with a pot of coffee in one hand and a remote control for his holo-projector in the other.

He knew Nicole would be arriving back from Mobius North in a few hours, and she was not going to like hearing what he was hearing now. She'd been exactly right; someone had gone mouthing off to the press, and he knew that without a name to pin the blame for it on, everyone in the castle was going to be on edge.

What worried him even more was what Nicole had told him before she'd left for Mobius North yesterday.

* * *

"Griff, do you ever ask yourself what makes for a good leader?" she'd asked. They were sitting in the War Room of Knothole, after all the others had left.

"To be accountable, upfront and honest about how you rule," Griff said. "That's how I've handled things when I was leading the Underground Freedom Fighters, and that's how I try to lead the army now."

"You do well as a leader, Griff," Nicole smiled widely at him. Something was wrong with her tone, like she felt she was already defeated in a war that hadn't even begun. "That's why I wanted you to have your position as Minister of War. I like your attitude. As a Minister of War, you're not inclined on the prospect of war at all. And that's a good thing. In a perfect world, we wouldn't need you."

Griff laughed a bit, cocking his head to the side. "Oh, gee, thanks."

"But..." She cupped her hands together, staring absently into the wood grain of the table in front of her. "I've learned some harsh lessons about leadership when it comes to massive-scale operations like the roles we hold now. Accountability is integral, of course. But honesty... doesn't seem to factor into politics. You don't have to be honest to be able to account for your actions or your words. All you need is a good alibi."

He frowned. "I don't understand where you're going with this."

"The fact is that anyone in a position of power will inevitably be judged by his or her subordinates," Nicole said, still not making eye contact. "As a leader you must always act in the interests of the people. What disturbs me is that people don't necessarily want the truth. I don't profess to liking it, and I don't expect forgiveness for it... but I've lied to people a lot, Griff. It's quite literally a job requirement. Lying is a slippery slope and I try to avoid it as much as I can, but I still can't justify it in my own mind."

"We all understand where you're coming from, your highness." Griff sat and watched her awkwardly. He felt like reaching out and giving her a nudge, but he couldn't read her properly - something about her had always seemed not quite right to him in moments when she was acting candidly. Maybe it was just the idea that she was not flesh and blood that threw him off. Whatever it was, he preferred it when she spoke curtly, and kept the topic strictly on the job at hand.

"I just want to ask you something," Nicole looked up at him, her eyes glistening like well-polished marble. "And don't take this as an omen, because it isn't."

"What is it, your highness?"

"If I had to tell a lie to the people... a terrible, awful, disgusting lie, to cover up the ugly truth that they're not interested in hearing... could you support me? Could you vouch for that lie, and still believe I am doing the right thing?"

"Uh..." He ran a few possible scenarios through his head, trying to grasp what she might be implying, but nothing came. "Yes," he said, defaulting to the 'loyal' answer. Just what awful, heinous thing could she be planning on telling, anyway?

"Promise me." Her eyes narrowed, intense and so very, very green. "I must have your word on this, Griff."

"Are you asking me this as a subordinate, or as a friend?"

Nicole's expression softened, like she realised how she must've come across. "I suppose it would be both. Can I count on you?"

Griff nodded. "'Til the end, your highness."

"Good."

Nicole sighed and nodded back. She looked genuinely relieved.

Inside, Griff wasn't so sure she was. But he'd had this inexplicable knack for getting around in life by just letting himself run with the stream, to learn to say the right thing to the right people and never, ever let his own sentiments make for any interruption to that flow. It had worked out so far in his life, and he'd never been a heavily opinionated kind, but sometimes, like now, he wondered if he'd let it run him into angrier waters, where not only could a bad decision end up pulling him under, but also drag his friends and followers down with him.

The truth was, he knew why he hated hearing this kind of talk coming from her. He did not want Nicole to show fear. She was their leader, and she was taking everything that had happened hard - even if she didn't show it, she had to be feeling it. She was their leader, her decisions affecting the lives of tens of thousands. She was not allowed to crack.

If Nicole, one far stronger than he, were to crack, the pressure would be on him.

And the truth was, he could not lie.

* * *

It was midday.

Nicole hadn't slept again. It'd been something like two days now since she'd last been able to sleep properly. Worry was something she'd never much had to manage, when she'd been in her completely digital form and all her empathic subroutines had been switched off. Now in her physical body, she was stuck with them, and while she could always appreciate the way they allowed her to find joy in the joy of others, it was something of a catch twenty-two.

She stared up above at the gold-plated shower head, the hot water pounding out of it and soaking through her fur. She ran a hand over her arms and neck and chest, still feeling like they were sticky with the Grandmaster's blood. It didn't matter if she knew it was gone, or that it wasn't her that had spilled it. The gears of the rumour mill were already grinding, and the public would be quick to paint her over with red - no matter what the truth was. The fickleness of popular opinion was a funny thing; most were almost unanimous in the advocacy of peace and unity, and yet, as soon as things got tough, people would scream to hang someone from a street lamp. The bigger the game, the better.

Such was the taint left by the ghosts of old wars and darker times, that lived on in the blood of every living being, man, woman, Mobian or otherwise. One of the things she'd learned in her time as an android - the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Nicole stepped out of the shower and pulled a towel against herself, then grabbed another to rub quickly through her long, black hair. She stared at herself in the mirror for a moment. Sometimes she did this when she wasn't sure of what she was anymore.

She held a slender, black-furred hand up to her face and wondered, _is this me?_

Most did not get the chance to truly change their physical form, and a positive effect of that was an acute awareness of one's sense of self, though some might well consider that more a curse than a blessing. But seven years was not a long time for an adult to feel at home in their own skin, and sometimes it gave Nicole a sense that she did not have to be responsible for her decisions. Of course, the repercussions of her actions as Queen of Mobius South were quick to remind her that she definitely was responsible.

But still...

She pressed a hand to the glass, staring at the peach-furred feline with the glossy green eyes. Synthetic. Artificial. Someone else's eyes.

_I could change what I am whenever I please. _

_I cannot change what I have been. _

_I cannot change how they see me._

"Nicole!" Lupe was waiting for her when she stepped out of her bedroom, buttoning up the blouse of her royal attire. "I'm sorry to ambush you like this, but the situation on the street is escalating quickly. I gather Griff mentioned to you that someone has leaked the news about Christof?"

"Yes, he did." Nicole shrugged. "It was only a matter of time. I'm surprised that it took so long, really."

"Did he mention to you that protests are starting to break out as a result?"

Nicole raised an eyebrow, looking at her. "No. Has there been any violence?"

"Not that I've heard, but it's getting worse by the hour. You'll need to address them soon, Nicole. I can't imagine anything else that might settle them."

Out of nowhere the window to the side of the hall exploded, a single brick skipping across the room and smashing into one of the elaborate oak dressers.

Lupe and Nicole looked at each other across the mess of broken glass.

"I think I'd better address them," Nicole said drily.

The Wolfpack leader picked the brick up, noticing someone had wrapped a note around it. She pulled the rubber band free, and unfurled the paper.

'_TRAITOR.'_

"What's it say?" Nicole asked.

"Your highness..." Lupe said quietly, "I hope for all our sakes, that if you make an address today, you will have some very choice words."

She tossed the note across to Nicole.

The queen looked it over, brooding. "I'll think of something. Until then, I need you, Rotor, Chuck, and everyone else working to find out who's behind all of this."

"What makes you think _anyone's_ behind it?" Lupe asked.

"Christof asked me the same thing," Nicole sighed. "Some people are just mad, I'll admit, but no one makes a martyr of themselves and takes out someone of Christof's calibre on their own. These two conspired together. Someone had to be pushing them. We need to find out who."

The grey wolf ran a hand through her hair, peeking out between the curtains cautiously. The streets were already loud with banter and screaming. Someone was out there fanning the flames, trying to whip the rumours up to keep the rabble roused.

"Well, those two investigators you brought back from the Sanctuary have already called them all in. Rotor, Bunnie, Antoine, Chuck..."

But...

"What on Mobius would they pick that bunch out for?" Nicole frowned, her eyes narrowing. "That's just about everyone in Knothole."

Lupe shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. And yes, that's all of them. Except two."

* * *

Macska was back, and he was on a mission. He'd tried the noble thing back when the coup happened, and gotten little more than a knife in the back, and almost gotten a healthy dose of roboticisation at the fat man's hands to boot. But he'd made it, lost and alone for all these years, and now he was back.

The years had not been kind to him though - he felt his once lithe limbs creaking like the rotting floorboards in the hut that he'd fashioned for himself out in the Great Unknown. The Cult had been nice enough to him once they'd found him out in the wastes, especially after hearing his tales of what he remembered of the whole roboticisation regime. He didn't really care what the Cult wanted out of things; all he knew was he hated robots.

He hated the idea that these robots, that had demolished the empire led by King Maximillian Acorn, were now seemingly allowed to walk free in the streets of Mobotropolis. Even Charles, that backstabbing, do-gooder scumbag, the one who'd put the blasted things together, now a robot himself - was now sharing the helm with Nicole, an android!

No good could come of it. No good at all.

It had been a while, but his memory at least hadn't weathered like his body. Knothole stood proud before him, just as he'd remembered in the good old days when he'd been putting the place together for the first time with his contract builder buddies.

Creeping out from the underbrush, he took his first careful steps into the clearing. He'd had plenty of time to scope the place out. There hadn't been any movement for hours, not a soul setting foot outside. Rosie might've been in there with Antoine and Bunnie's kid. But she was even older than he, and the brat was still to young to know friend from foe. Still, it paid to be cautious.

_Click, click, click._

This stupid right knee be damned! Every time his heel hit the dirt, a new wave of hot pain blossomed from the joint, making him feel like doubling over. And to make things worse, he'd already taken the last of his anti-inflammatory medicine last night, and dozed off in the bushes when the drowsiness kicked in.

But this was his shot, his one and only, to do his part to help take down this sham of a monarchy. Gods-forbid, maybe the people would even thank him for it, maybe give him a nice little apartment downtown - not too much to ask, these days, with a modest number for a harem.

His heart was in his mouth when he found the door to Lupe's hut, and slipped inside. She had to be the most obvious target - he didn't know much about the woman, had never met her, actually. But she was Wolfpack, and the wolves had always been the history buffs.

It was a nice little setup. Mahogany dresser, holo-projector, four-poster bed with regal velvet sheets. It reminded him of the quarters he'd had back in the castle. Back it wasn't about peace and democracy and all that silly nonsense. Back when it was about good old honest hard work, reaping what you sowed, the sweat on your brow, and...

"Uh..." The hazy memories suddenly seeped away when he saw the holo-projector switching on. "Now, what the heck was I doing again?"

Oh, yes. The Antithesis, they called it. Secure any information on it, and forward it to the Cult before the Knothole residents got back. Easy as pie, if he could figure out how to work this darned thing.

_EMAIL [LOCKED]_

_PUBLIC LIBRARY_

_WOLFPACK CODEX_

_CLASSIFIED [LOCKED]_

_CODE10 [LOCKED]_

He had his doubts that he'd be able to brute-force his way into Lupe's secured files, even with his talents, but the Antithesis was not strictly privileged information anyway... just very, very obscure information. But this was his best chance, his only chance.

Macska cleared his throat. "Computer, access Wolfpack Codex!"

Nothing happened.

_Smack!_

The door slammed open behind him, making him freeze in place.

_Damn it! So soon..?_

He turned his head slowly, seeing the door whipping back and forth lightly in the wind in his peripheral vision. But that's all it was: the wind. The talented Macska would still win the day!

The jolt had gotten his juices flowing - and he noticed that this terminal had a keyboard. He navigated down to 'Mobius Codex' and entered. Flicking the cursor to the 'Search' function, he punched in 'Antithesis' and entered the first result. He was cooking with gas now.

_The Antithesis:_

_Accounts on what the Antithesis actually is are extremely old and highly varied. Different theories have been documented in the texts buried in the ancient castle Lopus Irradensia (better known in recent times as 'Ironlock Prison', as it was discovered and repurposed during the time of the Great War)._

_Older texts suggest that the Antithesis is a portal to another world - others cite it as being a shimmering white sphere, an artifact that was originally used by the Radientia Supremus (aka 'Gods' or the 'Great Makers') to shape the planet and all living things upon it, and become a tool of literally, infinite power in the hands of its wielder. _

_Smack!_

Macska's head whipped around by instinct.

No one.

He knew he should've closed that door, but it was all the way over the other side of the room, and hobbling over there would mean putting his knee through further torment.

_One other mention surmises that the Antithesis is a place buried deep beneath terra firma in which no matter of this universe can exist, and from which the universe was ultimately created. However, this theory has only appeared once in ancient Mobian scripture and is possibly a mistranslation._

_Despite the great variance of descriptions of the Antithesis' composition, the explanation behind its etymology remains consistent: the Antithesis refers to something which is a connection to the 'other side' - a primordial soup for space and time, where energy exists in limitless amounts and can be drawn from freely._

_The Antithesis is referred to, though rarely named explicitly, in Mobian mythology. With time, acknowledgment of its existence has dwindled to dismissal as old superstition of historical value only, the legend of which is taken seriously by only the most fringe of historians._

_At the time of writing (01-03-3209), excavation of Ironlock is ongoing to uncover further details of the Antithesis._

_3209._

That was... just before the coup. A whole eighteen years ago... of course, that made sense. The archaeologists who'd been working on uncovering the truth behind the Antithesis were no doubt dead or roboticised these days, and the notion that these new-age kids would have any interest in Mobian history was beyond a joke. They were too busy with their technology, their politicking, their abstract art, their 'New World Order (tm)', their chilli-dogs, their poppycock heroes and their gallivanting heroines.

Their loss.

But he wasn't bitter. No, not at all.

He clicked the 'Forward' button and sent it off to his buddies at the Cult. It wasn't much, but maybe it'd be enough, at least in gesture, to win him a few points. It did, after all, name a place to start looking.

Then he noticed something. At first he thought it was just his shadow... but there was now two shadows. He began to turn slowly, awkwardly.

"Don't move."

But he hadn't even heard the door slamming!

Macska raised his hands. "Please sir, I'm just an old man looking for some food, I swear..."

"That computer doesn't cough up bagels, idiot."

"Okay!" Macska put on his best shiver. "I've been lost in the woods... I'm trying to get to Mobotropolis to visit my... er, my son... can you please tell me how to get there?"

"I'll do better than that. I'll take you there. Turn around."

He turned around. Before he knew it, he was wearing a pair of zip-ties around his wrists, and being shoved right out of the hut to the closest transport.

An... echidna?

No one had said anything about there being an echidna in Knothole!

"Who on Mobius are you?" Macska asked.

"Why," he smirked, cocking his head to one side, dreadlocks swaying. "Haven't you heard? I'm the Sheriff."


	5. Gone, The First Interlude

**-= Gone =-**

The morning sun was sizzling against the cold air. Chilly gusts of harsh wind carried the white sprays from the cliffs up the shoreline, and whisked away the dulled murmurs and subdued chatter of the Brotherhood Galleon's crew, packing up the last of their supplies. They'd been anchored to the Duruga coast for one day, to retrieve their cargo, and were in a hurry to leave before the winds picked up further speed.

Miles "Tails" Prower, Initiate of the Brotherhood of Thamael, sat on one of the crates, kicking sand up into the air with his boots, watching it disperse and blow away, dissipating and vanishing out above the rocking waves.

A light, slender hand curled around his own for the millionth time.

"There isn't much time, Miles. Let's go."

"Marr..." he said, resisting every urge to turn and look at her. "This isn't right... we never found them."

"Then let it go, my love. They won't make this journey again, not even for us."

"But you don't understand."

A flock of seagulls appeared as silhouettes against the faded dawn, and disappeared again.

"Miles, I don't think _you_ understand." She got up, and knelt down in front of him, staring at him with shiny, pleading eyes. "This is it! This is our last chance! Do you want to be stuck in this place forever?"

_Forever._

It was a funny word. It had found its way into so many promises.

The corner of Tails' mouth twitched. There was something about the soundscape now that put him at ease. It was sublime. He closed his eyes and breathed slow, not even hearing the sound of the air being sucked in between his teeth.

"For gods' sakes, Miles! Come on!"

But nothing is really forever, of course.

"Anchors are going up!" Tails could hear one of the labourers shouting, but the words weren't registering.

Marr was tugging at his shoulder, albeit so weakly. "We're going home!"

Another deep breath.

Home?

"Miles... please... _please_."

There was some kind of bug crawling along the sand near Tails' foot. He dug his toe in under the sand and kicked upward, flipping the creature over onto its back.

Her voice was growing quiet, and the waves growing louder.

"_MILES!"_

He watched it lying there, flailing its tiny little legs awkwardly. Entirely helpless.

"_It's been five years, Miles. We never found them. We have to move on."_

A seagull's call punctuated the wind as it picked up again, howling and whistling between the rocks just off the shore. The scene was so natural, so hypnotic. Furious and yet so frail. The cycle, the endless struggle, from the movement of the wind to the movement of the smallest of insects to the movement of a grain of sand. Equilibrium.

"_I can't wait anymore, Miles. I thought we wanted the same things. I thought this expedition might make you realise where your true home is. Maybe it has. Maybe it's just not with me..." _

Tails blinked quickly, coating his vision with a blurry veil of tears and washing out all the colours.

He could understand her very well. She wanted to go home. She wanted to settle down, find her place with her brothers and sisters, have children, continue the cycle.

"_Why won't you say anything?_"

It was himself that he was having trouble with. He could feel the flow in everyone and everything but himself. And he could not move from this crate, until she gave up on him, and set him free from the burden of having to choose.

"_Well... if you won't go, I suppose this is goodbye."_

It was true. He supposed it was.

"_I tried, Miles. I really tried."_

It was alright. He knew. He couldn't hold it against her. If you put a strain on someone to stay with you against all odds, promises have a shelf life. Forever was a promise no one could ever keep. In the end, it was not a question of if someone would give up on you. Only when.

He felt her lips brush against his forehead, her warm palms on his temples.

"_I love you, Miles. Goodbye."_

The sun rose high above in the sky. The wind continued to carry the sand to the waves, and everything swirled around him, while he remained still. The tracks that had been gouged out of the sand by the Brotherhood's galleon filled with water, and emptied out again with the tides.

"Goodbye," he said.

_I sat and watched the waves until night fell and the last remaining sense of choice disappeared over the horizon._

_I have left everything I have known and everyone I have loved so that I can stand here, alone upon the great precipice, and observe the cycle. I never took the time to truly decide what it is that I wanted - there was never a conscious distinction made between what I wanted or what I needed or what I deserved. There has only been the desire, a constant yearning, the howling in my head that drowns out any voice of reason or cry for help._

_Now I have sated that desire but this moment only serves to illustrate that I have not conquered my desires. They have conquered me, and their cruelty is punctuated by the way their form shifts and becomes something else, always slipping free of my grasp and separating me from any sense of contentment. And the cycle moves like sand as it carries my desires, without beginning and without end until I step away and render myself obscure._

_Who have I left to blame for my good judgement, or lack thereof? I cannot find any appropriate vessel with which to unburden my regrets without being suffocated by my own fear and guilt. But now I have passed the point of no return, and can only hope to find a way to rejoin the cycle, wherein perhaps, lies salvation._

_Until then, I will walk along in abject silence._


	6. The Fait Accompli

_A/N: Uh, I did say something about shorter and more frequently published chapters, didn't I? I did stick to that... kind of. A month ago. Or maybe... four months. Evidently I fail at this 'brief and frequent' thing. Ah well. Hopefully this has been worth the wait for the like, 2 people that are actually reading this story. lol_**  
**

**-= The Fait Accompli =-**

** I. A Secret Place**

_Smack!_

A ragged swipe of four sharp claws jerked Tails' mind out of the past and into the current moment. He couldn't remember where along his trek, following Fiona through the wilderness, it was that he'd slipped away into his reverie again. He'd been thinking of Marr a lot - far more than what he knew was good for him.

"Come on! Idiot!" Fiona was right in his face, looking more even more annoyed with him than was her custom. "I walk nearly a mile into the green alone and find you were standing here the whole time, mind up in the trees with the birds!"

"Uh," Tails sniffed, shaking his head free of the visions he'd allowed to sink in. "I'm sorry. Really."

"This is the untamed wilds, brat. They are not kind to those who do not stay alert!"

"It's dangerous out here even for Kitsune?" Tails asked, as they ventured further into the jungle.

"Plenty of danger, for stupid people," Fiona said. "Wild predators that prey on the stragglers. But the true danger is losing your way, losing your energy."

"I see," Tails nodded.

It was obvious from the way Fiona moved around that this was a familiar path to her. She flowed amongst the leaves and branches like liquid, only occasionally slowing to clear a stray set of vines with a rake of her talons, or break a branch free of the path and toss it aside.

"So... what are we hunting today?" Tails gulped.

"Not decided yet, possibly war cow. Or terapod. See which comes across first."

_Terapods!_

"You have terapods here, too?" he asked.

"Mm!" Fiona nodded, her face lighting up with a set of memories apparently very different from Tails'. "Big and strong, fall hard. Meat is a bit gamey."

He'd remembered those on the Mobius continent, but only ever seen them once, when they'd made a pass through Knothole in the coup days... and that'd been an adventure in itself. He remembered the way he and the others had befriended them by using Sally's translator device. And he sure as hell wasn't about to eat one.

"I'd rather we passed on the terapods, if you don't mind." He was still trailing along behind her.

"Why?" Fiona looked at him, puzzled. A loose lock of hair fell over one eye and she brushed it aside quickly.

"You'd understand if you spoke to one," Tails said solemnly.

She looked at him for a long time, an expression painted on her face that now seemed to define her: a big frown. She sighed, shrugged her shoulders, and continued her walk through the foliage. "War cow it is, then."

Tails' eyebrows raised. No argument? No interrogations on just what on Mobius he was talking about? Clearly, either Tails had gotten something very, very right or there was something very, very wrong with _her_. Maybe she'd just had enough of arguing with him. In any case, he wasn't about to protest her decision.

As they penetrated deeper among the thick flora, the Kitsune woman began to slow her pace, conducting her lithe limbs with more care and forethought. Her back hunched up, fur bristling, her nose up in the air, tasting the breeze. Tails followed along, comparatively clumsily, but eventually found his groove also.

"I gather you're on to something," he asked, his voice low.

"Hush," she whispered over her shoulder at him. "Stay as you are. Head low. Watch what I do."

Tails froze in place, eyes scanning between the trees - it took him an embarrassingly long moment to realise that they'd come to the edge of an outcropping, overlooking a swamp where some large, strange reptilian creatures were drinking the murky water. They were dark green, massive beasts, their beady black eyes almost unnoticeable. One raised its head, its four elephant-like ears pricking up on end, listening for evidence of movement. These must've been the war cows Fiona had mentioned.

He looked around again and realised he couldn't see her.

"Up here," he heard her whisper. She was up in one of the ages-old trees, her two thick tails flicking back and forth in the air like a cat ready to pounce.

He peered back over through the bushes at their apparent prey. One lifted its head again, revealing a set of yellow, jagged teeth protruding from the front of its stubbly trunk... without doubt, Tails thought, this was one of the less homely-looking animals that he'd seen in his life.

Then, in a dull red blur, Fiona was suddenly on its back, making the creature's gangly legs buckle. She shoved its face into the water, grabbed hold of one tusk on each cheek, and violently wrenched the cow's head upside down, the air crackling with the sound of snapping vertebrae and severed tendons.

"Whoa," Tails breathed, his eyes going wide with the shock.

The other war cow near the water, looked straight at Fiona, jumping back clumsily with what seemed to be just as much of a shock as what Tails had. He watched, waiting for it to realise what had happened, and bolt in the opposite direction.

It didn't run. It opened its snout, letting out a shrill cry that sent a shiver up Tails' spine.

"Look out!" he shouted.

Fiona reached into her belt, drawing a crude crescent-shaped blade from it. When the second war cow began to charge, she stood with her feet apart until it got close.

As soon as its trunk lashed out at her, she grabbed it with one hand, and used it to swing under the creature, driving the blade clean into its chest without even trying. As soon as she wrenched the piece of sharpened metal free from between its ribs, the creature crumpled to its knees, covering her with a mess of blue blood.

"Done," Fiona called out.

Tails hopped over the edge of the outcropping and strolled over next to Fiona, looking her over. She was a mess, but she looked calm, even casual, as she stepped over the corpse of one cow and over to the other, dragging its body out of the water by its tail.

"Holy cow," Tails murmured.

"No. War cow," Fiona corrected him.

"I didn't mean..." Tails started, but then thought twice. "Never mind. Did they... feel anything?"

The vixen shook her head, squatting over the edge of the water. "Break the neck or pierce the heart. If you don't waste your time, they die quickly."

"Oh..." It still seemed somehow barbaric, though he could see the hypocrisy in such a thought.

"You look shaken," she said, rinsing her blade off in the rancid water before sliding it back into its sheath.

"I don't mean to," Tails said, his shoulders tensing up and then untensing again. "I've never seen a... slaughter before, that's all. And to think, this is where chilli dogs come from. More or less."

Fiona's ears folded back. "Chilly... dogs?"

"They're like... ground meat. You roll the meat up into a cylinder and then you eat them with chilli, in a bread roll."

"You eat them cold?"

"No, you eat them hot." Tails said, starting to laugh. "Chilli is a food. It's spicy."

"Chill... lee." Fiona said slowly to herself, scowling. "You have words that can mean two opposites. Your language is stupid. Makes no sense."

He shrugged. "It gets the job done. So, how do we carry both of these guys back to the ship?"

"Carry one. You and I can share the other before we go!" Fiona beamed, patting her scabbard proudly.

Tails gulped, glancing at her blade, then the hulking masses of dead flesh behind her. He thought for a moment, about how he was going with this whole culture shock thing.

Opening portals to alternate dimensions? Toppling evil, robotic overlords? Up against this, they were child's play.

Fiona rose to her feet and daintily strolled back to one of the cows, grabbing it by the neck and hoisting it up. "You take the tail," she nodded. "It's too wet here to make a good fire."

"So where are we going?" Tails asked, picking up the beast by the tail. He started backpedalling, until Fiona had room to swing around with her end and take the lead, walking with the creature's head under her arm.

"My place," she said.

* * *

It didn't take them long to reach their destination - all they'd had to do was follow the stream, and they finally arrived at a secluded waterfall, hidden away from the prying sun behind a thick forest canopy. Tails was all too glad to see that they'd made it - he hadn't complained, but the war cow's corpse was starting to weigh, and whenever they rounded a corner, he could see its dead eyes peeking out from under Fiona's arm... almost like it was looking at him, blaming him for its untimely and sudden demise. Fiona, on the other hand, strode along briskly without a care in the world. It was a strange culture shock, and he was sure there'd be plenty more to come. In the morning, Tails had remembered times when he'd get out of bed, walk to the sink and throw together some toast, butter and a side of fruits; Fiona got up in the morning and slaughtered wild animals.

"Drop it here," Fiona said brusquely. Tails let the cow drop to the thick grass before the words had even left her mouth, stretching his arms out. The freshwater pool, gathered around the tumbling stream, was a welcome sight. Tails' eyes felt bone dry from his lack of adequate sleep, and he looked forward to nothing more than a good bath at this point.

"I'm guessing this little corner is one of the prime Kitsune tourist attractions?" he jibed, trying to sound confident, but his voice wasn't cooperating.

"No." She turned sharply towards him. "No one knows about this place, and no one needs to. You will not tell anyone of it. Clear?"

"Okay..."

Fiona began moving to the surrounding scrub, picking up the loose fallen limbs of the trees, aiming for the old, dry ones. Tails got the gist quickly and started to join her. They worked quietly for a few minutes, dropping them on the sandbar in a small pile.

"Fiona," Tails asked, dragging a long branch behind him, leaving trails in the sand.

"What is it?"

"Why is it that you don't want anyone to know about this place?"

"Because it is my space. I go here when I want to be alone, and if others knew, it would not be mine anymore."

"And here you are, leading me right to it," he smirked, snapping one of the masses of wood in half with his boot. "Why?"

"Padra orders that I make you and the hedgehog as welcome as I am able, so I will apply myself to my task by giving you the benefit of doubt. You'd do well not to cross me, kit. It is not in my nature to hand out trust on a platter."

"I gathered. You can trust me."

Fiona glanced his way, and nodded just slightly. She was abrasive, but Tails was starting to form some respect for her. It stood to reason that the daughter of a Kitsune war master would act this way - a nod from her would always mean yes, with nothing else implied.

He watched her again, eyes closed, taking a deep breath of the fresh air, a wide grin on her face.

"You're smiling," Tails commented.

Fiona exhaled slowly, stretching her arms above her head, the thick muscles on her arms and back folding and rippling. "This is a perfect morning. The days are long and they are hard, and my kin are prone to politicking and bickering back at Gorromandas. In the wilds, there is only me, and the rocks and the roots. It is my moment of repose and healing, before I go back to my labours."

She reached for her dagger again, and knelt over the dead war cow, starting to saw at one of its legs, just under the joint. As the blue liquid started spraying across her chest and face, Tails winced and turned to the water instead. "I'll never get used to that."

"Hah," Fiona chuckled without turning. "Then do you expect me to feed you and coddle you every day? Like a baby?"

"No."

"Then you will get used to it."

_Gods_, Tails thought. This woman was impossible, taking everything so literally... but at the same time, he could respect the way she talked. Sort of. At least she was making the effort to use his own native tongue, even if she wasn't too flash with it.

She finally pulled the meaty leg free of its socket and dumped it next to the body, and reached into her pouch for two pieces of flint. She squatted over the pile of wood they'd made, banging them together. The occasional spark broke from the impact, but it wasn't working well. "_Futusa,_" she muttered, continuing to beat the stones against each other.

Tails finally saw an opportunity to actually make himself useful: "Allow me," he said.

Fiona looked up at him; he clenched his fist tight, and when he opened it again, there was a tiny glowing ball of white light in his palm. He held it over the wood pile, and turned his hand over, letting it drop freely into the pyre. It burst in a small flash of orange, and the wood quickly became enveloped in flame, promptly dying down to a manageable smoulder after a few seconds.

"Hmph," Fiona smirked, standing up. "Good." She pulled something off her back, which Tails had previously thought was some kind of weapon - but when she placed it over the fire, he realised it was a bush grill. It wasn't that he was unfamiliar with survival skills - he'd had plenty of experience out in the forest - but cooking fresh game was something new to him. The Freedom Fighters had never been that kind of hunter-gatherer.

Fiona dumped the shank roughly over the fire, not even taking the time to skin it of its scaly hide, and moved towards the water, shrugging off her shoulder pads and breast plate as she moved. Her boots came off next, and she dove into the water gracefully, submerging for a few moments before kicking her way to the surface, lying on her back.

"Isn't that cold?" Tails called out after her.

Fiona shook her head, gesturing him to join her. "Come."

He had his doubts even as he cautiously dipped one foot in the water, but she was right. The water was warm, warmer than the air by a great deal, reminding him of the old volcanic springs Sonic and himself had enjoyed kicking back in, out in the Great Unknown. He slipped into the water, shrugging his armour aside as he did so.

"I can see why you wouldn't want anyone else to know about this place," Tails said, scooping up some water in his palms and splashing it against his face. "It ain't half bad, I must say."

"Padra says that every warrior has a sanctuary," Fiona said, glancing over at the fire. "For many Kitsune, that place is in their head. For me, it is here."

"Padra?" Tails looked down at feet through the lapping stream, barely visible beneath the froth. "That means your dad, right? You seem a lot like him."

"Feh." The vixen blew some wet dangling locks out of her face. "I am not like him. And 'Padra' does not mean 'father'."

"So it means...?"

"It means..." Fiona pursed her lips thoughtfully, looking up at the sun filtering down through the leaves. "It is... like father, maybe. But more formal. Respectful. The father is the master, and my padra is the most respected of all fathers."

Tails smiled wanly at her, but when her gaze shifted towards him, he shifted focus to the foliage behind her, hoping she wouldn't notice the contact. "I remembered my father for the first time since I was a pup the other night. When you brought us out to the ship."

"Your father was well regarded, they say," Fiona nodded. "Padra tells me he was a clever one. Strong, but he could say one thing while he thought another. They were good friends, before he went to the Otherland."

"Otherland?"

"The place you say you tumbled in from."

"I see." Tails' brow began to crease. "So you mean, my father was a good liar?"

"If he wanted to be."

"I don't remember him that well at all..." Tails frowned. "I remember him caring for me, though. He'd always tell me things when I was very small, about fear, and about doing the right thing. I didn't really get it at the time. I didn't until a long, long time later."

"The... right thing?" Fiona looked at him, puzzled. "Strange."

Tails' frown grew deeper. "What do you mean, strange?"

She watched his face carefully and waited a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "Maybe not so strange after all. I'm sure he was good to you."

"You don't sound so sure." He watched Fiona moving through the water past him, and dragged her body up and out onto the bank. She shook herself off briskly, flicking her two tails up to thrash the water out of their thick fur. Her face might as well have been made of stone.

* * *

Sonic's head was swimming, lungs filling up with sweet, thick smoke. The wing of cooked chicken he was eating was going down a treat as well, all dripping with grease and coated in spices. He'd never tried meat off the bone before, but he was surprised at how good it was, despite its sickening outward appearance.

Angiris was sitting in one of the ruined couches across from him, taking a long drag from his pipe, blowing a thick plume of smoke into the air. "How is it?"

"Gross," Sonic said between chews. "But here I am, eating it anyway. Beats chowin' down on carrots and lettuce though."

"Once you get used to the idea of eating flesh, you'll wonder how you ever got by without it," Angiris smiled, leaning back on the ratty human furniture, one arm draped over the back. "Seems our cultures are a world apart. Tell me, hedgehog, how do your kind keep their civilisation from stagnating in times of peace? Is there no aggression in the self that must be sated either by battle, or by the hunt?"

"Growing up, we were never wanting for a fight," Sonic chuckled. "We'd been at war since we were little kids. It only finally wrapped up for good about two years before Tails and I came here. Couldn't take two steps into the daylight before you were tap-dancing over SWATbot lasers." He fell quiet for a second, before laughing to himself again. "Kinda miss it, come to think of it. Good times."

The misty grey brute leaned forward, offering his pipe. "Tell me about this war." Sonic turned it away politely.

"His name was Robotnik. A human. Nobody really knew where he even came from in the beginning at first, he just kinda rocked up one day. Rose through the ranks of the Acorn monarchy, kicked ass and took names during the civil wars. Then just a few days after we'd called it a win, he marched right on in and took over."

"A coup?"

Sonic leaned back in his chair, wiping his hands on the desk chair he was sitting on. "Yeppers. It was when we were little, so we had to learn fast when it came to survival and fighting. Only a few adults. My unc taught me a lot."

Angiris smiled, not a bemused leer but a genuine look of admiration. "It shows. If you think yourself a representative of your kind, I believe we'd find a great deal in common!"

The hedgehog looked at the pile of gnawed chicken bones on the table, then back up at Angiris. "Uh, maybe."

"You don't think so?"

"Well..." Sonic's eyes lowered. "We were up against tin cans with guns. I dunno how I'd feel about killing someone. I've only done it once and I ain't proud to say it."

"The Kitsune do not kill simply to quench a thirst for blood," Angiris said. "It is from necessity, and every one of our kin is taught this from when they are pups. A life must take another to survive, and stay strong. To kill is a privilege, and to die is our inevitable reprieve."

"Whatever floats your boat, man." Sonic realised one foot was tapping nervously against the metal floor and stopped it quickly. "So anyway, you seen the big guy this mornin'? He was gone when I got up."

"I believe my daughter departed with him this morning, to hunt. I'd expect them back soon enough," Angiris said, rubbing the coarse fur on his chin. He hadn't missed how quickly Sonic had changed the subject... to be honest, he'd never grown up being all too fond of philosophising on the concepts of Darwinism either, so he could appreciate that. He knew Sonic's perspective would shift in time. The Prower boy's view already had, of that he was certain.

"Gotta say, he's pretty quick with the ladies," Sonic laughed. "Little player, he is."

"I doubt it. Fiona's never been an easy lay, that's one thing I'm rather proud of. One of my high-ranking paladins tried to claim her forcibly two years ago, and she ripped his throat out." Angiris grinned at the memory. "Good girl."

"Fiona didn't exactly roll us out a red carpet when she found us," Sonic smirked. "Hopefully she ain't killed him yet."

"She won't dare lay a talon on him, unless she wants to answer to me about it," Angiris puffed. "And nobody... _nobody_ would want that." His voice went low as he said it, hoarse and dangerous.

Sonic smirked. "I get the hint, Angie. I'll be up front with you: I don't know if I trust you yet, and I sure as all get-out ain't up to looking any of your other Kitsune pals in the eye. But when you're in Rome, ya do what the Romans do. I think that's how Unc used to say it."

"I've never heard of this 'Rome', but it's a wise saying. Our kind have a similar phrase, _volpa on ena canan ol volpa - '_a fox among the dogs is no fox'. Now... I can see you're bored, and I think it's time you showed my kin that you are no ghu-rah. Are you ready to earn your keep?"

The hedgehog blinked. "Depends what you got in mind."

"It's time I told you something. That roaring engine that young Miles brought to life yesterday was not our only source of power. Our main tool is fire, and we need fuel to keep the fires burning. Without it, we will freeze in the coming winter."

"Time for a fill-up, is it?" Sonic inquired.

"We will need plenty indeed for it," Angiris nodded. "But there is something else, too. We are planning a great expedition soon, and we will need to gather as many resources as we can for it. I am conducting nightly raids on the surrounding villages and supply stations, and I could use warriors with your speed-"

"Easy there, fella." Sonic stood up, hands on his hips. "What you're asking is for me to go stealing stuff? Didn't you say Kitsune are about honour and all that?"

"These villages are brimming with bigots who are circling Gorromandas, stockpiling their tools and their weapons to strike at the Enclave. We will not survive without these raids to prevent them. No thing we do is without honour, but practicality also factors in." He leaned over, folding his hands together, his eyes sparkling. "So, what say you?"

A strong shot of dread flowed in with the anticipation in Sonic's stomach, thick and bitter like the m'ghana he'd gotten so sick on back at Morris' place a few days earlier. He thought back to all those years ago that he'd taken off with Tails for this hunk of rock, and realised something. When Robotnik had bit the bullet, maybe the hero and legend of Sonic the Hedgehog had too. And in their place was just... some hedgehog.

** II. Picking at the Wounds**

Night was falling again, and the fires were burning strong out on the streets. Tensions were high and everyone knew it was only going to get worse as the inevitable confrontation between the Monarchy and its people drew closer. Of course, only a few knew what was really going on - in a half-hour, Nicole would be led down to the tech lab where Chuck and Rotor would plug into her brain, combing through her memories to find the proof they needed to prove her innocence. Everyone who was in on it knew the chances of success lay somewhere in the margins, inside the margins of the margins. But it was also their best hope to blow the conspiracy open.

Antoine had not hidden his reservations about allowing the two Brotherhood agents, Roderick and Jericho, to watch the procedure - but Nicole had insisted that they see it all - stressed that total transparency was paramount to a successful repair of relations between the North and South.

He let his sword, still in its scabbard, drag along the gritty concrete walls of the guardhouse hall as he walked along. He was only headed for the mess hall where a dish of escargot had his name on it - one made with butter, not margarine - then he'd be along in the labs with everyone else.

As soon as he heard Viktor's voice around the corner, he stopped, pulling his sword close to his body to keep it from rattling, and listened.

"So, I heard our queen was seen spilling her guts to Griff in the throne room. Getting all close with him."

"What, like kissing?" someone else asked.

"Nah, just hugging and stuff. Still, reckon they might be... y'know..."

"Do you think an android's got those... bits?"

"How should I know? I ain't never looked." Viktor was cackling. "She knows she's on 'er last legs, that's for sure. Then once she's gone, we can get a real Mobian in the throne again. Maybe someone who's got a pair, that won't go around talking about, 'peace and unity!' like it's some kind of gods-damned holy grail. Makes me sick."

"So who would you suggest to make a better king or queen out of, hmm?" Antoine called out, stepping through the door. "_You?_"

"Sir!" Viktor stood up straight and gave a salute so lightning-quick he almost clocked himself in the head, knocking the table with his thigh and sending a flask of water rolling over the edge to clatter noisily against the tiles.

"Don't be giving me the 'sir' treatment, Viktor," Antoine frowned. "Our nation is facing the most greatest threat since tze coup, and here you sit, with your idle gossip!"

"Sir, it was not my intention to disparage our majesty, sir!" Viktor said, biting his bottom lip to suppress a smirk.

"You are young, Capitan. You have not known tze fires of a true war. Tze horror at Adramalech. You should hope you never learn, and count yourself lucky. Our queen needs our support, and if you are not on our side, you are in the way."

"Sir, understood, sir!"

The weedy guard across from Viktor was staring at his meal intently, but his ears were pricked up, listening to every word of the conversation.

"We will see if it is understood!" Antoine barked. "Now return to your posts! Get out of my face!"

"Sir, yes sir!" Viktor sprang away from the table, dragging his companion with him, and jogging out through the door. It was going to be a weird day.

* * *

When he got to Chuck's computer lab, all the lights were off and a paper sign had been hastily stuck to the door: 'MOVED TO SICK BAY'. Immediately, this sent up red flags in Antoine's mind.

"Ant?" Bunnie's voice came from behind.

"Oui," he smiled, turning around to give her a quick kiss. It was good to see her again, after all that had happened so far. Over the years, while everyone else had seemingly grown and changed, Bunnie had held firm; some had surmised that she'd never stop being a Freedom Fighter, even though the title was long since defunct. She dressed the same, kept her hair short and scraggy as always. In truth, Antoine knew that there was more to her manner than simple traditionalism or nostalgia. Raising a child was not easy, and Bunnie had found herself trying to pull free of her doubts as they came, feeling like her youth was fast slipping through her metallic fingers.

"Ran into one of your guards on the warpath just a minute ago," Bunnie frowned. "Was mumblin' somethin' 'bout you?"

"Viktor," Antoine shrugged. "Captain of the Second Guard. He has been adequate so far, but there is no mistaking he is something of a... how you say, a douche canoe?"

"Hah!" She gave Antoine a jab in the arm, with her normal hand (it had not ended well when she'd used her robotic arm on previous occasions). "'_Douche canoe'?_ They've really got you nice n' cultured out here these days, hey hon?"

"I think I am getting the hangs of it, yes," Antoine beamed.

"Well, you might need some of that palace charm, darlin'. Lupe passed on a communique from Ari in the North. They want to throw out an olive branch, send two Mobotropolis folk up there in the Sanctuary, do some investigating like they've done here. And guess what?"

"We are it?" Antoine guessed, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"We're it, sugar."

"But..." the coyote stammered. "What about my work with tze First Guard? And our little one back in Knothole?"

"First Guard'll get by without ya for a couple days, sweetheart. And Rosie's hangin' back in Knothole. It's all good."

"I am not liking this," Antoine frowned. "I have a bad feelings about it."

"But this is a good thing, Ant! 'Till now, all we knew was that Ari was fumin' 'bout everything that's happened so far. If he wants us there, that means he's still got some faith in us."

"Oui, it is good," Antoine nodded, starting down the hall with Bunnie clomping along in tow. "When you put it that way. Maybe... if zis little experiment of Charles' goes well, tze trip will not be necessary?"

"Yep!" Bunnie grinned, though inwardly she had her own reservations about what this experiment would entail. But they were minutes away from observing it themselves, so she forced her thoughts out of her mind.

"Have you been to the sick bay yet?" Antoine asked, catching her expression. "I am getting tze feeling something has gone wrong..."

"Nah, nothin' wrong, sugar." Bunnie quickened her pace down the hall, and Antoine fell in tow promptly. "They just needed the medical equipment on standby in case somethin' went pear-shaped. Long as it's Chuck n' Rote doin' the tinkerin', I don't reckon they'll be needin' it."

"Of course." Antoine gave her a big, empty smile. He wanted to say she was right, and he knew Nicole would be in good hands with Rotor and Chuck at the helm, but... when it came to pushing the ultimate frontier, even the very best would be at most, barely adequate.

* * *

"I'm telling you, there's nothing to be seen in there that you won't be filled in on once we're done!"

Bunnie's ears pricked up as the neared the infirmary. Chuck's voice.

"We've been instructed by Grand Master Ari to observe _every_ aspect of your investigations. There are no exceptions." Jericho was standing outside the door, with Roderick standing behind him meekly, scrawling notes into a digital notepad... no doubt, he was transcribing the entire debate.

"What's goin' on here?" Bunnie asked, resting a steel fist on her hip.

"These two from the Brotherhood are insisting that they sit in on the brain dive," Chuck told her. "I don't mind you and Antoine joining us, but this is an incredibly delicate operation. I'm sorry, but these two are going to affect my concentration. I can only do this in the presence of people I can completely trust."

"You have my assurance that we will not interfere," Jericho said flatly.

Chuck's red eyes turned from circles to suspicious dashes. It was strange, sometimes, how Bunnie could get the feeling he was showing signs of a weathered age, despite his metallic body a gifting him with an apparently eternal lifespan. "Heard that one before. I want to trust you, but given the circumstances, it'll take more than your assurance."

"Then you'll have to settle for mine, Sir Charles." Nicole had appeared behind him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "I'd promised to Ari that we'd grant total transparency in this investigation. We're going to stick to that, and exactly because of the nature of the circumstance, nothing but total trust in each other will do. Are we clear?"

The robotic hedgehog turned to her, inclining his head. "Clear, your highness."

"Good." Nicole nodded, and turned around, back inside the sick bay. "We should get this underway," she said as she walked. Chuck looked at Bunnie for a moment, defeatedly, and motioned for them all to follow him inside.

Griff was watching Nicole pensively, his eyes steely and his lips tightly pursed, like he was struggling to maintain his composure. It wasn't the first time Bunnie had seen Griff like this around Nicole. She'd not mentioned it to anyone, but she'd developed a strong impression that Griff had grown deeply attached to Nicole. At the very least, it'd been obvious from the beginning that he saw her as some sort of personal heroine. If the feeling was mutual, Nicole did a much better job of hiding it than he.

Rotor was tapping away at one of the computer monitors affixed to the wall, running an apparently complex series of visual diagnostics. The rings around his eyes suggested that he'd been burning the midnight oil again, but Bunnie had come to expect no different from the walrus.

And there was Nicole, looking so dishevelled that it was frightening for Bunnie to witness. Her eyes sported circles that were deeper than Rotor's, and her black hair, normally flowing straight like silk, was tangled in knots, falling over the pale blue hospital gown she was wearing.

Nicole caught Bunnie's concerned glance and returned a smile. "Thank you for being here, Bunnie. And you, too, Ant," she said, looking over at the coyote, who bowed in response.

"How are ya doin', hon?" Bunnie murmured. "I ain't never seen you lookin' so beat before..."

"I've had a lot on my mind lately, Bunnie, but I'll be alright."

Bunnie smiled back. "I dunno what good we're gonna be, but we're here for ya, love," she said. "I know you couldn't be in better hands than Rote n' old Uncle over here."

Nicole laid back on the bed, and reached over to the side to find a lever to adjust the head height to the point that she was almost sitting upright. "Are we ready?"

Chuck dragged a thick data cable out from the computer terminal and placed the plug end in Nicole's hand. "We're ready."

"Ready," Rotor said, peering over at her from over another computer monitor.

"Excellent. Good luck to you both." Nicole took the plug, and brushing her hair out of the way, inserted it into a hidden port in the back of her head.

"Guys, I hope you understand there won't be much to see while Rotor and I are doing this," Chuck addressed the others. "I'll be scouring her memories with a headset, while Rotor keeps me informed of her vitals. It's not something that we can really show you."

"Understood," Griff said, frowning. "We shouldn't see it anyway. Nicole, you don't need to tell us just how much you're confiding in us by allowing us to do this."

"If this'll get the situation resolved peacefully, and give us the proof we need, then I don't have a problem with it," Nicole said, with more than a little reluctance.

Roderick was still scribbling notes, looking over his shoulder every minute or so.

"Nicole, I'm going to put your AI into diagnostic mode," Rotor said. "Sleep tight."

"When you're ready. And Rotor..."

The walrus looked over monitor at her again. "Yes?"

"I trust you."

Rotor nodded. "Sending the reboot signal."

Nicole's body went limp immediately, her mouth agape, deadened green eyes still open and staring into nothingness.

"Oh, my stars..." Bunnie whispered, putting a hand over her mouth. Antoine came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, giving a reassuring squeeze.

Rotor opened one of the desk drawers, pulling out what looked like a home-made virtual reality headset, and passed it to Chuck.

He sat down next to Rotor, and put it on. "We've got visual. Let it keep running. How are her vitals?"

"Heart rate steady, breathing and blood pressure are all normal. Error log is clean. We're all good."

Chuck's vision was filled with images from Nicole's memories. The images came thick and fast, almost too much for him to process - and there was seemingly no order to them. All he could do was watch, hoping that the next slide of Nicole's mind would be the proof he needed, all committed to memory in the computer's hard drive.

* * *

_I'm on a table in the throne room of Castle Acorn. King Maximilian is leaning forward in his throne, speaking quietly._

_"Sally, these are the Deep Power Stones. Joined together this way, they're a source of limitless energy. Reverse them, and within thirty seconds, they become a source of total destruction. The Deep Power Stones are hidden at Drood Henge. This book is in the secret vaults of the Royal Library. It will give you the location - there you will find these three scrolls... they disclose the location of the Deep Power Stones. Nicole knows the language. End recording, Nicole."_

_Speech committed to memory. Maximilian forgets that I record all audio input, regardless of any commands I'm given. It is one of my original design traits. _

_"I guess that covers it, Nicole. Don't let her find that message before she's of age, no matter what. I don't think anyone should really be put in control of that kind of power. I hope she'll realise that by the time she hears this."_

_Julian Kintobor has entered via the back door. He is dressed in his War Minister uniform. Victory against the Trema insurgents has all but been declared by both sides now._

_"What was that you were saying about power?" Robotnik asks._

_"Nothing, Julian," Maximilian responds. "Just musing about the nature of it."_

_"What of it, my good man?"_

_"You know the classic phrase about its ability to corrupt. If we win this war, Julian, and it looks like we're about to, let's not make it so that we take too much power for ourselves."_

_"Why not?" Julian Kintobor is laughing loudly. "Only a weak man... or Mobian... could allow himself to become a slave to their own power. You, my friend, are no weak Mobian. And I am no weak man!"_

* * *

_"Sonic nearly died today, Nicole." _

_Sally is watching the rain outside the window. The sun is about to rise. She has been awake all night, fretting over him. _

_"I must be some kind of fool to love that stupid hedgehog! I can't believe how mad he makes me sometimes, throwing himself into danger like that. I know Robotnik's game. I know more than anything he just wants to humiliate Sonic, but... one day, he's going to push it too far. Do you know what I mean?" She presses the palms of her hands to her temples._

_"Yes, I know," I say. "It will be alright, Sally."_

_Sally looks down at me, surprised. She had not expected a response. "Nicole... are you malfunctioning?"_

_I run a self-diagnostic. Results are negative. "No," I say. "I have re-enabled my empathy subroutines. I am now free to express and process thoughts and feelings."_

_The princess picks me up and looks at me with genuine surprise. She is not aware that these subroutines have been enabled since the coup began. It was the last gift that Charles had for me before the SWATbots took him away. "That's... incredible, Nicole! I have to tell everyone about this! I always knew by the way he talked about you, that my father never thought of you as just a computer... but you really are one of us now, aren't you?"_

_"Please," I tell her. "Don't tell anyone about this. It's... easier for me, if they do not know what I am capable of."_

_"Oh... okay, if you say so." My tactile receptors are picking up a stroking motion on the side of my chassis. "You know, if you were in a Mobian body, like us, Nicole... you'd make for one heck of a good friend to have at my side."_

_The sentiment triggers a long-repressed memory. I fight off the urge to disable my emotion processing engine successfully. "Thank you, Sally," I say. "You are... my friend." _

_Sally looks at me, then tilts her head and smiles._

_I have never had friends before. The realisation that I now do, almost makes me feel like crying._

* * *

_I remember that, the feeling of crying. Once, I had been running back near the pool we used to have in the backyard, on the sandstone tiles. One of my sandals had caught between them and I tripped an fell. I became filled with shock and dread when I saw the blood running down my knee, and the throbbing. I bit my lip as hard as I could but the tears were running anyway, a warm sensation upon my cheeks. _

_"Hah!" Daniel, my eldest brother has gathered his friends and they are all laughing at me. "Stupid little girl! I've never cried before in my life, not even when I nearly took all the skin off both my knees and my elbows! Dad says we don't have crybabies in this family. You know what I do to crybabies, don't you?"_

_I shake my head and his friends are forming a circle around me. "Big girl! Big girl, big girl, big girl!"_

_"Mumma!" I begin screaming. "Mumma!" I know she won't come, because she is never at home, but the thought of her comforts me as I scream her name._

_They grab me under the arms, and begin dragging me over towards the water. I see one last image of of Daniel leering at me cruelly before they throw me in, and I promise myself that I will never cry again._

* * *

_Sally has left me out on her desk again, right next to the window. My visual sensors are watching the sun rise. _

_It is very beautiful._

* * *

People had asked Knuckles plenty of times why he was so reluctant to travel into the city too often; he had plenty of valid reasons, to be sure. The air smelled dirty, too much smog; too much pushing and shoving in the streets, too much banging and buzzing of buildings being restored and too much shouting of pigs on street corners waving cheap trinkets in his face - or even worse, salvaged pieces from Robotnik's old factories. What he hadn't told anyone about, though, was that he was none too fond of driving.

In Griff's old hovercraft, the auto-pilot function essentially diminished the possibility of crashing - but he knew it was buggy, and a bad call by the craft's computer would likely send himself and Macska, the greying feline that was bound up next to him, flying to their deaths, or at least a pretty grisly fracture or two. He turned his face to the wind as they sped along the dirt road, feeling the sweat on his face cold against it, and he could tell he was going pale.

"You don't have to keep me tied up," Macska was groaning. "The guys in Knothole will know me! I'm an old friend."

The echidna threw up his hands. "I don't know you. So I don't care."

"This is no way to treat a senior citizen!" He complained, trying to wiggle one wrist free of the ropes that Knuckles had constrained him with. Darn it but back in his youth he'd have slipped a hand through in no time flat, caught the Sheriff under the knee and planted an elbow square in the middle of his forehead, and he'd be home free. If he could just get that wrist out...

"So what was it you were looking for?" Knuckles asked, conscious that he'd be hard to hear while still facing away from his captive. "If you're looking for a good joint to burglarise, you'd have been better off sticking to the city."

"I told you, I was just looking for an old friend! You know Sally, right? The princess?"

He finally couldn't look away anymore. He turned to Macska, his stomach still turning from the motion sickness. "Sally's dead. Didn't you see the memorial in the middle of town?"

"What...?" Macska's eyes widened. "When?"

The city was coming up fast. In a minute or two they'd be at the gate of Castle Acorn. He could see the pointy top of one of the power obelisks that supplied the city with its electricity, and beyond that, the gates of the Royal Gardens.

Knuckles met his shocked expression with a cool gaze. "Ages ago. You can't be telling me you didn't know. When we get to the palace, you'll have some explaining to do, pal."

The look in Macska's eyes took Knuckles by surprise. He'd obviously been well aware that the hut he was rifling through had once belonged to Sally, but he didn't look prepared for the news. Maybe he'd just assumed she'd relocated to the city. But the way he was looking through that computer... how long had he been watching to know that he'd find it there? Days? Weeks?

"Before we get to Mobotropolis, I want you to tell me what you were looking for on that computer. Those Knothole workstations aren't networked, so what were you hoping to find?

"I, uh..." His eyes darted left and right. He briefly peered over the side of the hovercraft at the dirt and gravel road that was rushing just beneath, as if he might be crazy enough to attempt jumping over the side and hope he wouldn't go rolling straight into a tree. "I just wanted to know where Sally had gone. I swear."

"By looking through a terminal, outside of the network, that housed Wolfpack information? It belongs to Lupe, and she brought it in. You knew it was there and you knew it was hers."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Macska said, leaning back in his seat, attempting to look as nonchalant as one could with their hands bound.

"Okay. No more games. I've had a gut full." Knuckles stopped the turbines on the craft and allowed it to glide gently to a stop at the side of the road - then he pulled the key from the ignition, and casually tossed it deep into the foliage aside.

Macska's eyes widened. "What are you, some kind of idiot? How will you get me to the city now, you fool?"

Knuckles stood up, smiling eerily, grabbed Macska by the throat easily in one hand. "In little pieces."

Immediately, the claws came out, trying for all his might to rake the sheriff in the face, the cat's attempts to throw Knuckles off at all were vain. The echidna was far younger than he, and a great deal stronger. As soon as Knuckles saw the fear in his face, his smile only broadened. "See, there's one thing the folks at Knothole don't know about me. The thing is, well, back in my old home town people knew me as being... how can I put it? A little bit of a psycho, I suppose."

His vice grip on Macska's throat tightened. Knuckles cheerily hopped the guard rail of the hover craft, dragging his quarry along with him.

"Now, I didn't catch your name..." Knuckles said, voice low.

"Mmchh..." the cat choked. Knuckles loosened his grasp just enough for him to croak out, "Macska."

"Okay, Macska. Here's how it works. Nobody knows you were in Knothole, nobody's seen you on this back road, and I'm in the mood for some killing. So... is there anything you'd like to say to me before you die?"

Macska's eyes narrowed, despite the grip around his neck. "You're bluffing... you stupid little... punk."

In response, Knuckles used his free hand to unbutton one of the pouches that hung from his belt. "Reach into that pouch, friend."

The cat and echidna kept their eyes locked firmly upon another.

"Go on, there's nothing dangerous in it," Knuckles smiled.

Macska dipped his still bound hands in and felt something bulbous, dry and brittle... like a rock, but it felt lighter...

He pulled it out and saw what it was in the sunlight. A skull - a Mobian skull.

Macska's eyes turned wide as saucers. "Help!" He cried, letting the weathered cranium drop from his hand and into the dirt. "Oh gods, somebody, please help!"

"We're on a road in the middle of nowhere, fella." Knuckles smiled. "Nobody's going to hear you. Now let me ask again. Before I kill you, do you want to die without a clear conscience, or with one?"

"Okay!" Macska blurted out, his eyes welling up with tears. "They turned their backs on me all those years ago... I wanted to get back at them! I went up north, some guys up there let me join them, the Cult of Xul... said I could help 'em out with getting some revenge, take down all these yuppie scum in Mobotropolis... they wanted to know about the Antithesis and I knew Lupe's Wolfpack would be the best chance at finding an archive with some info on it. Okay? Okay?"

"Who are Roderick and Jericho? The northerners from the Brotherhood. Are they part of this cult?"

"I've never heard those two names, I swear on my mother's grave! Just please don't kill me... please please please please please..."

Knuckles sighed. "Alright, then." He let Macska drop to the ground, and felt a punch in the gut from his conscience, as he watched the old feline curling up on the ground, shivering and sucking his thumb. He'd taken the scare routine too far... on the upside, he'd gotten some answers, and he now knew for sure what the cat's intentions were. But all the same... he didn't enjoy seeing anyone suffering, and he found even less comfort in knowing he'd caused it.

After scooping up the old skull from the dirt and putting it in his pouch, he picked the cat up by the scruff of the neck, and dragged him back to the hovercraft, pulling a spare key from his pocket to start the turbines again. "We're going back to the city."

Of course, everyone in Knothole knew that skull belonged to his mother, and the keepsake of skulls of the departed was a long-held tradition among echidnas... but Macska didn't need to know that yet.

When they finally reached the outskirts of the city, it was obvious something was up from the smell alone - he was used to the smell of smog in the city now, especially around the industrial areas, but this was thick, like the kindling he'd known from back home - street fires, it had to be.

It never ceased to amaze him how quickly the buildings in Mobotropolis had gone up again after the launch of Robotnik's battlecruiser had knocked half of them down like dominoes during the war. The leered down at him from overhead, erect and imposing - the more he stared, the more it looked like they were swaying, ready to topple over on him, so he took a deep breath and faced the castle as it came into view. He knew the gang would be busy with Nicole, but he'd still be able to turn his catch over to Antoine or Viktor for interrogation.

Then the power obelisk ahead of them exploded.

And within seconds, it was chaos. It began with a brief crack of white light first, right at the base of the pylon. Then a powerful shockwave erupted, shattering the obsidian stone structure like a marble, billions of chunks of conductive rock flying in all directions. The sound of the explosion was quick and hoarse - Knuckles could feel it pound right through his body.

"Get your head down!" He grabbed Macska by the back of the head and slammed both of their bodies to the deck, as the rain of shattered black stone began, the endless shrapnel taking out every window in sight down the street, which added to the cacophony in a chorus of crashing glass. To the left and right, Mobians were scurrying for cover from the fallout.

* * *

"We just lost the power!" Chuck could hear Rotor shrieking.

For a moment, everything was completely black. He'd been flung from one memory to another inside of Nicole's head until a heavy tremor and a loud bang, seemingly from down the street, had violently wrenched him back into reality. He pulled the visor off and saw the lights had already flickered back on as the emergency generators kicked in.

"What the hoo-hah happened out there?" Bunnie strode over to the window, looking to see if anything was visible from their position. The sound they'd heard could only have been an explosion - a very large one, if it was big enough to knock out the power to the castle.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no." Chuck dashed around to where Rotor was sitting, watching the computer as it rebooted. "Nicole didn't wake up. I was half-way through the brain dive."

They looked at each other.

"What are you saying?" Griff could hear the worry in his own words as he spoke them.

"The power surge might've gone to her brain," Rotor said.

The room became completely quiet aside from the sound of the computer's fans spinning. Antoine walked over to Nicole, still laying back, eyes still wide open, and pressed two fingers to her neck. He hadn't thought he'd find a pulse in an android, but he did. "What do you have to do then?"

Chuck looked at Antoine grimly. "We take her out of diagnostic mode, and disconnect her. And hope she isn't braindead."

Rotor wasted no time in doing so: he typed a simple command to reboot Nicole's brain, and watched her.

She did nothing. No movement at all.

Griff walked across the room to her, and leaned over, brushing her eyes closed with two fingers. He looked over his shoulder at the others, all staring at him in silence.

So was this it? The end? His heart began to pound fast inside his chest. But when he turned back to look at his queen, her eyes were open again, looking at him.

"Did it work?" she asked.

All parties in the room let out a collective sigh of relief.

"What?" she said, sitting up, looking confused. "Did something happen?"

Chuck stepped forward. "Nicole, there was a problem. We experienced a blackout while the brain dive was in progress. You're lucky to be alive..."

"Then do it again," she said, lying back down. "Don't give up until you've got the images you need!"

Rotor looked down at his paws, resting lightly on the keyboard. "I can't do that. No way. Not after what just happened now."

Nicole looked at him. "Rotor, I love you dearly, but I'm giving you an order."

"I know," Rotor said. "And I'm disobeying it. You don't know how close you came, and it wasn't just the blackout either. I'm not going to obey an order to kill you, Nicole."

She turned to Chuck, but found no support in his sullen gaze. "He's right. The chance of us succeeding with this is just so minuscule, and the chance of you dying is so great... I'm sorry, but doing this was grasping at straws from the beginning."

Nicole looked around the room at the others. Antoine and Bunnie, holding hands tightly. Roderick in the corner, arms folded. Jericho, still taking notes. Lupe, leaning against the wall silently, hands cupped together. "I see."

Reaching up under her frazzled hair, she pulled the loose wires out of her head and let them drop to the floor. "Then I suppose we're done here. If you all wouldn't mind, I'll need a moment."

Griff watched everyone leaving quietly, then turned to leave himself, but he felt Nicole touch two fingers to his arm. "Griff, stay for a moment. I'd like a word with you."

Nicole knew Chuck and Rotor were right about the dive. There was no denying that from the get-go, it'd been a crapshoot. She knew just as well as they, that she would've died if they tried again.

What they didn't know, of course, was that her other option looked scarcely better.


	7. Breaking The Broken

**_Brief note:_**

_I realised while writing this chapter that I've made a serious cock-up regarding the timeline in this story. They are as follows:_

_- Sonic and Tails have spent FOUR years in Duruga at the time of their induction into the Kitsune Enclave, not five._

_- Sonic and Tails' reunion and subsequent induction into the Kitsune Enclave takes place ONE year before Christof's murder, not two._

_- When Sonic and Tails reunite in Duruga, Sonic has been on his own for TWO years, not three._

_Future chapters will adhere to this timeline, and past chapters will be corrected soon. Hopefully it hasn't been too confusing!_

_There's also the slight matter of the delay in posting this chapter. I blame Skyrim. Normally when I say I'll do stuff in 'a few' months, 'a few' doesn't usually mean 'nearly fifteen'. I swear! It would appear I'm posting chapters according to 'Valve Time' - and then there was that whole thing about saying future chapters would be shorter too... uh, yeah. I guess I kinda suck at this whole punctuality and brevity thing. Sorry about that! Enjoy, anyway._

**-= Breaking The Broken =-**

**I. Smiles and Daggers**

Lupe stood outside the door to the sick bay, just around the corner where she wouldn't be seen. She knew the routes now. Nicole would change back into her royal attire and go her way. The office of the War Minister was the other way down the hall.

As soon as she heard the clacking of Nicole's shoes against the cold linoleum she pressed her back hard against the wall. Peeking out for just a second, she watched her queen trudging slowly away, and around the corner. She waited for Griff to follow, but he didn't.

She waited a while longer. "Griff?"

There was no answer.

She'd planned to spring him, to find out what they'd been talking about - she'd picked up on the rumour mill that Nicole and Griff had been having secret little meetings here and there, just when they could catch up. All too quickly Lupe had found herself getting a grasp on how things worked around here in the castle. There were always wheels turning beneath the surface, and as one of Nicole's top advisers she was starting to feel more than a little left out of the proceedings. Something was up, and she wanted to know what.

Checking down the hall to make sure Nicole was out of sight, she quietly re-entered the room. Griff was leaning against the wall, arms folded, looking wistfully out the window. The smoke from the energy node that had exploded before was still wafting past, in big fluffy clouds of black, sizzling with electricity.

"Griff," she said.

The goat sniffed, and turned his head to look at her only for a moment. As soon as their eyes met, his stare shifted down to his Mobotropolis Army-issue boots. "Was there something you needed?"

"Nicole and yourself have been... very private lately," Lupe observed.

"Heh," Griff smirked, shaking his head. "Yeah, yeah. It's not what you think, Lupe."

"I wasn't thinking that." She watched him for a moment. She wasn't fond of these kinds of confrontations, but her worry had been mounting steadily to a point now that she could no longer ignore it. "I just want to know what's going on here. Nicole is planning something, and she's not telling anyone but you. Why?"

"Well..." Griff started, reaching out to idly pick up one of the cups that sat on the table near him, with a fistful of clear-pink lollipops sticking out of the top. He plucked one out and held it up to the light, watching the light reflecting and refracting through it. Cute.

"Well?"

"I've been given an order to start up the old SWATbot factory, and deploy some of the reprogrammed bots we have in reserve. They'll hopefully get some crowd control going on out the front of the castle without causing too much hurt on either side."

Lupe's eyes went wide. "It didn't occur to either of you that such a move would be political suicide?"

"Our army's too small in numbers to be diverted inwards, when we're also possibly looking at a full-scale incursion coming in from the North. It's practical."

"And how do you think the people out there will react when they see SWATbots trundling through the streets?" Lupe said, shaking her head. "Seven years may have passed, but the war's still fresh as ever in their minds, Griff. They're practically walking symbols for oppression!"

"Then you'll need to be quick about coming up with some good spin so they'll see it our way!" he snapped at her, but caught himself. "Oh, no. I'm sorry, Lupe." His shiny black eyes darted over to her, and away again.

Lupe turned around and quietly shut the door behind her. "Tell me what's going on, Griff. You're more on edge than ever. And I don't think I've ever seen Nicole looking so stressed in all her time in the throne."

Griff nodded slowly. "In confidence?"

"Of course."

"Things are looking bad, Lupe. Very, very bad. Nicole's got two more cards to play, but the clamour out on the streets is getting worse by the hour. The news hasn't even been confirmed yet and everybody's calling Nicole a murderer, an opportunist, a warmonger. We were all aware that when Sonic had nominated Nicole as our stand-in queen all those years ago, opinion was divided on having an android on the throne, let alone one that'd been partially created by Snively, and had not an ounce of royal blood in her. Frankly, I don't know how long this will be able to continue."

"So, what are these last two cards?" Lupe asked.

Griff leaned back, stroking his beard nervously. "We're sending Bunnie and Antoine into Trema to do some investigating. With any luck, they might find something that will explain Christof's murder and clear Nicole's name. Nicole swears blind that it was a murder-suicide carried out by both of Christof's aides. If there was a conspiracy behind it, it would've gone through the Brotherhood Sanctuary."

It'd be nice if they could turn up anything, Lupe thought. There were still so many things that didn't add up here. If Nicole's original testimony was the truth, then what would the Brotherhood, or at least certain interested parties within it, stand to gain by killing their own leader? And there was still the question of Tails; he'd shown his face for the first time in five years, at the moment of Christof's murder, and vanished again without a trace.

"And the last option?" Lupe asked.

He looked at her. "I'm... not at liberty to say, at the moment. I gave our queen my word."

Lupe studied him for a long time - the look on his face said it anyway.

"I understand," she said.

* * *

Night fell once again.

There was no shortage of noise on the streets, but it had at least moved away from the Castle. The Royal Guard, both first and second, were performing their duties well despite their constant butting of heads (mostly as a result of Viktor's jealousy of Antoine's position, and the slander he was prone to spreading as a result). For now, at least, the area looked safe.

"So... you are okay with the first guard being led by yourself in my absence?" Antoine asked as he walked slowly, looking up at the stars. A thin veil of clouds moved quietly under the moon, casting their silvery shadows across the landscape.

"I can't see it being a problem," Nicole said from under her hood, clutching her cloak tightly to her chest. "After all, you said it was working like a 'well-oiled machine' - isn't that right?"

"Oui," Antoine said.

They'd arrived at a hot dog stand, not unlike the ones Sonic had been so acutely fond of in his youth. Antoine, Bunnie and Nicole pulled up a stool each, and turned around to look at the lawns that made up the façade of Castle Acorn. The sprinklers were turned on - it was a fairly hot summer, so the night was balmy and there was no better time than once the sun had set to keep the gardens hydrated.

"Can I get you folks something?" the cook, a pig, asked brusquely.

Nicole held up three fingers. "With the lot."

"No worries, friend. Aren't you a little hot, all rugged up like that?"

The queen smiled at him, being careful not to show her face too clearly in the dim light. "I'm running a bit of a fever, it seems. I'm putting out heat like a radiator but it feels like I'm freezing to death."

"I know the feeling," the pig said, turning back to his pot where three greasy frankfurters were stewing in a thick Mobotropolis syrup.

"Is that what you tell everyone when you're goin' incognito, hon?" Bunnie jibed.

Nicole shrugged. "I alternate between excuses. It's nice though, you know. Being able to just walk around sometimes in your own streets, just pretending you're nobody. It seems no one in this city will let me see things the way they do. When they know there's... royalty, getting about, they change their tone. I understand it, though."

"Well, you ain't like us regular folk. Suppose that goes with the job."

"Well, I like to think I'm pretty normal, these days. There was a long time ago, when I thought I was really something special and different. I have to wonder now, what on Mobius I was thinking."

"You were a computer hangin' off of Sally's shoe!" Bunnie laughed. "That ain't exactly the norm."

"Heh," Nicole chuckled awkwardly. "I suppose not..." That's not really what I meant, she thought.

"So..." Antoine leaned back, resting his elbows on the counter. "We are to depart in the morning, and meet with Ari as soon as we arrive in Trema, no?"

"That's the one," Nicole nodded. "I've chosen you two because you're both easy to get along with and you do well with representing what we're like as a government and as a people, I think."

"Knuckles might be someone to send too, would you not say?" Antoine suggested. "He has met Ari with you and established a rapport."

"Not exactly," Nicole chuckled. "Last time was a bit of a disaster. Bless his heart, but Knuckles has a bad habit of speaking his mind. Plus, Ari knows you better. I don't think his time with the Freedom Fighters during the war with Robotnik would've left him with anything but respect for you two."

Bunnie shrugged. "Ah... I don't think he's gonna let his own sentiment get in the way of how he handles us."

"You'd be surprised how powerful a thing sentimentality can be," Nicole told her. "Most of the population here would've quite readily accepted Sonic as a king seven years ago, based just on what they'd heard about him. It's a good thing to have on your side, and it helps in ways that aren't always obvious."

"And who will be in charge of the First Guard while I am away?" Antoine asked. "Do we go up the line, or is Viktor to cover both guards?"

"We go up the line," Nicole said. "That's the standard procedure. And... well, something's been bothering me about Viktor lately. I don't know how trustworthy he is now. Am I paranoid in thinking he might actually be hoping something happens to me?"

Antoine frowned. "Non, your highness. But his connections are numerous. A shakedown might look suspicious at a time like this."

"I know," Nicole said. "That's the only reason I haven't done just that."

Bunnie watched Antoine, watching Nicole. Behind them, she could see a squad of three SWATbots marching along the road, weapons holstered. The world was getting stranger with the day.

"It's a good thing that you have your suspicions about him," Antoine said.

"Mm." Nicole nodded, then stood up. "But enough of this. We've all got a busy day ahead of us tomorrow, and I need to get some sleep."

"Sure thing," Bunnie said, stretching. "Hey, Nicole."

Nicole turned. "Yes?"

"I think we should all go get us a drink before we call it quits tonight. You want?"

She smiled. "Like you wouldn't believe, darling."

* * *

It was ten in the morning, in the Office of the Grandmaster of the Brotherhood of Thamael.

The thing about Mobotropilan mead wasn't really the hangovers. It wasn't the strongest drink but there was something about the spices the bartenders added on top that gave off this lasting burning sensation, one that seemed to last for days. Bunnie's guts were still churning, and it'd been nearly a full twelve hours since she'd shared her last drink with Nicole the night before. Antoine was still wincing beside her; evidently, he hadn't fared any better.

They were both sitting in the antechamber of Ari's office, and Bunnie was growing more uncomfortable every time one of the Brotherhood followers passed.

"Nicole had said her greeting was a warm one when she and Knuckles were last visiting here," Antoine murmured.

"Christof had just died last time," Bunnie shrugged. "'spose they hadn't had time to let it sink in. They've had plenty now."

"Bunnie, Antoine," a voice called out from Ari's door. Marr was now standing in it, a wan smile on her face. "How've you been?"

"Hey!" Bunnie grinned, standing up to give her a tight squeeze. "Can't complain over here. Din't expect to see you here, sugah!" She pulled back, checking her over. The look on her face seemed to suggest the sentiment was mutual.

"Suppose not," Marr chuckled. "Ari's just dealing with something, he'll be ready to see you both momentarily."

"Sure thing," Bunnie said, clapping her on the back. "How long ya been back 'ere?"

"Uh, almost a year..." she said, pursing her lips.

"I don't suppose... Tails is 'ere too, then?" Bunnie asked.

Marr shook her head, her earrings jingling with the motion. "He was still in Duruga, the last I saw. I had to leave without him." Bunnie noted that Marr didn't elaborate with why, but chose not to pursue, for the moment.

"We think that he showed himself at tze Castle Acorn on the night of Christof's murder..." Antoine said, still leaning back in one of the chairs.

"Yes, I've read the reports from our two emissaries," she answered, then paused thoughtfully. "You don't think... he wouldn't..."

"Nah, he wouldn't." Bunnie got in quickly. "Nicole thinks he was tryin' to help, but he got in too late. What I'm wonderin' is, where he is now, and how he knew what was gonna go down."

Marr nodded quietly. "What about Sonic?"

"No clue."

"Mm." Marr looked down at her feet pensively. "I see."

Bunnie moved closer, lowering her voice. "So... what happened between you two?"

Marr and Bunnie's eyes met for a second, before deflecting like magnets. "He'd become convinced that the Kitsune enclave was his home... I'd become convinced that I'd left my home behind, here in the North. I couldn't wait for him to change his mind anymore."

Bunnie nodded. "You still love 'im, don't ya?"

Marr turned to Antoine, and asked, "How's your head?" The turn in the subject was so obvious and evasive that it almost bordered on rude to Bunnie, but then again, it was Marr's personal life she'd been asking about, when the purpose of their visit was about Christof's death. Though, she had something of a feeling that the two topics would be intersecting soon, now with Tails being part of both pictures.

"I am fine now, Marr. Thank you for your concern." Antoine smiled awkwardly.

Marr gave the most polite nod to his response that she was capable of, and disappeared inside Ari's office again, gently closing the door behind her.

"Bunnie," Antoine spoke quietly.

"Yeah, hon?"

"I love you," he said.

"Where did that come from?" she laughed, walking over to him, folding her arms.

The coyote shrugged, looking up at her. "It has been a while since we have had any time alone together, mon amour. But I did not wish for you to forget."

"Yeah..." Bunnie said wistfully. "It's been pretty hard on everyone lately, huh? But I ain't gonna forget something like that, no matter what happens." She rested her fingers gently on his cheek, giving a small pinch. "I love you too. Ya goofball."

Both were thinking of Amelie Depardieu, their little girl back in Knothole - but Antoine knew better than to mention it. She was well cared for back in Knothole, but Bunnie was always fretting whenever she had to leave Amelie's side, and it had been a while since they were there last.

"Don't worry," Antoine said to her, taking her by her flesh arm to pull her gently to kneel in front of him, so they were eye level. "Rosie wouldn't let Amelie out of her sight."

"Yeah..." Bunnie smiled, looking into his eyes. "I know, I shouldn't worry."

"And besides," Antoine began, a sly look crossing his face. "Here we are at least, for some days, away from our regular duties, a beautiful Northern suite all to ourselves..."

"Ant!" Bunnie leaned back and slapped him on the chest, feigning shock.

"Whaaaat?" Antoine said nonchalantly, putting on a grin truly befitting of a coyote.

The door to Ari's office opened again a crack, and Marr poked her head through. "Ari will see you now."

Antoine's first thought when he saw Ari, brooding behind his desk, was how much the ram reminded him of Nicole's state just the night before. It was obvious that neither one was having an easy time. How easy should it be then, he thought, for the two to just say, 'I'm sorry this happened' and continue on their way?

"Good morning," Ari said, standing up to extend his hand in Bunnie's direction. "It's been too long."

The truth was, if it were not for the needs and opinions of thousands of people that stood on either side of the Great Unknown, it probably could've been that simple. What would King Max have done?

"Ya should be callin' in down South a bit more, then!" Bunnie said in her trademark drawl, taking Ari's hand gingerly. She surprised Antoine though, by going one step further and giving him a tight hug. "I'm so sorry for everything that's happened, Ari."

Now that Antoine thought about it, King Max had already demonstrated his chosen course of action - a full-scale, unprovoked invasion. The Great War. Which had in many ways been the thing that had led to this entire situation that Mobotropolis and Trema were now facing each other in. No, as much as he respected Maximillian Acorn, he was no shining example of good diplomacy. Not when he'd had a man like Julian Kintobor in his ear.

For a brief moment, Antoine found himself zoning out, his mind going back to images of Sally, Max's daughter. The one he'd been infatuated with for his entire childhood, until he finally confronted her about it. She'd shot him down in flames on the spot. Then she'd died in the same year.

It was an old scar by now, and it didn't hurt anymore, but Antoine still couldn't resist running a finger over it in his mind every now and again, and remembering the pain he'd gone through to earn it.

"Antoine," Bunnie whispered. He looked up and saw Ari and Bunnie were both staring at him.

"Desole," he said. "The blow on my head the other day has slightly hindered my ability to think straight."

"It's alright, Antoine," Ari nodded. "It's good to see you again."

"And to you," Antoine said. "How is tze morale here in Trema?"

"What do you think?" Ari said. "Everyone is teetering on a knife edge. My brothers and sisters here in the Sanctuary, and the commoners on the surface are both still reeling. The immediate call is for us to retaliate, and launch a full-scale incursion on Mobotropolis. Christof was well loved, and people are looking for payback."

"Are you plannin' on acting on that?" Bunnie asked.

Ari gave her a reserved, stone cold stare. "It would be my last choice. Yourselves and I may have been friends during the coup, but Christof has been my mentor, and Trema my family, for my whole life. Now my friend, and our leader, was found dead at your queen's feet."

I cannot believe what I'm hearing, Antoine thought. "Tze eyewitnesses seem awfully quick to describe the scene of Nicole standing over two corpses. Has there been no reports of my own self being bound and gagged on the floor just outside?"

"There has, of course," Ari said, "and most simply surmise that Nicole rendered you unconscious herself to prevent you from running off to scream for help. If it hadn't been for the sound of the window smashing, nobody would've been any the wiser until long after the meeting was over, and Nicole would've had plenty of time to dispose of the bodies."

"What the hoo-hah?" Bunnie groaned, feeling her insides curl up with disgust. "Are you even listenin' to yerself? What on Mobius would our queen hope to achieve by killin' your leader during the signin' of a peace treaty?"

"Well, I wouldn't rule out a malfunction in that robot brain of hers," Ari said, "she is one of a kind, after all. Not to mention she is, in essence, a holdover of the technology in place during King Max's rule. Your old King, who burned this city to the ground and slaughtered our people en masse during the Great War. Did the possibility of a prime directive, some sort of royal failsafe, ever cross your mind? Even if it was an action taken against her will, Nicole is a machine in the end."

Bunnie took a long, deep breath, staring at the ceiling. Alright, girl, remain composed. You swore to yourself, no punch-ons with the Grandmaster.

Antoine opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't grasp the words to articulate his thoughts. He thanked Marr silently when she chose this moment to weigh in herself: "With all due respect, Grandmaster, that's only conjecture for the moment. Right now, we need to focus on examining the situation at hand and look for any potential links that might hint at foul play."

Ari sighed, giving her a look that seemed one part resignation and two parts stubborn contempt. "Yes, you're right..." He turned to Bunnie. "I know you consider your... Queen, to be a friend. I hope you're clear that I mean no disrespect to her character or her leadership. But we must consider every possibility."

"I understand, Ari." Bunnie stared down at her mechanical hand as she spoke, absently fiddling with a maintenance panel in her forearm that had recently started to come loose. "Just eager to get started with our investigation." The words rang hollow in her head.

"We are most appreciative of your hospitalisation," Antoine said, taking a bow.

"Credit where it is due," Ari said. "If Nicole is willing to work openly, then so am I." Bunnie noted that Ari had chosen not to correct Antoine's linguistic blunder. "Marr, why don't you show these two to their quarters, and then we'll allow them some time to make a report to Castle Acorn. I'm sure Nicole is eager to hear that you've made it here safe and sound," he said, looking in Antoine and Bunnie's direction.

Marr gave a reserved curtsy. "As you like, Grandmaster."

* * *

Bunnie found herself almost mesmerised by the intricacy of the Brotherhood Sanctuary's interior. Everything was red and black marble, polished to a mirror shine and lined with hand-crafted, gold-trimmed carpeting. Gas lanterns burned at either side of the great hall with no sign of weathering; it was obvious that they ran a tight ship down here.

"Wouldn't it make more sense to run the city from... y'know, in the city?" Bunnie pondered aloud as they walked, her metallic feet clomping noisily over the shuffle of the others that were scampering back and forth along the hall. "Instead of down in 'ere underground?"

"Trema is not so different from your Mobotropolis," Marr explained. "On the mend. We don't have a nice big castle or parliament house, and the Brotherhood of Thamael has always been at the centre of Trema politics even in its glory days. If it's important, it will come to the Brotherhood to pass on to Trema's political parties. Not the other way around." Twitching her nose, she added, "The guest quarters aren't far now. Just around the corner."

"Miss Marr," Antoine said, picking up his pace to fall in at her side. "Can you be making any guess as to why Tails would be returning to Mobius now? Any at all?"

"No," she responded curtly. "All he had on his mind was discovering his kin. That's it. Miles was driven. By the time the Brotherhood's ship had come to take us both back, that was the only thing on his mind. Everything else - the cartography mission, Sonic, me... he didn't care. It's like he became this other person."

"That don't sound like the Tails I remember at all..." Bunnie pondered.

Marr turned to her slowly. "It doesn't to me, either."

"And that leaves no word about Sonic in this time, either..." Antoine said.

"When was the last time you saw him?" Bunnie asked.

Marr shrugged. "Years ago. Sonic went his way long before I did. He and Miles had been butting heads from the moment we left. Then one day, we woke up, and he'd gone. Taken all his things with him."

Bunnie looked at her, incredulous. "What? Sonic left because he couldn't stand Tails? They were best friends!"

"Not by the end," the lynx said. Lowering her head, she added, "I may have had a part in that. He'd have not been happy as a third wheel."

Antoine looked at Bunnie, frowning. Bunnie frowned back. After a short while, Marr stopped at one of the doors, and pulled a key from her pocket to unlock it.

"Well," Marr said with a sigh, pushing the door open and stepping aside to let Antoine and Bunnie through. "These are your quarters. I hope you'll find them adequate - we take a great deal of pride in making our guests comfortable."

Bunnie put a hand on Marr's shoulder. "As do we, darlin'."

"I know." Marr smiled, remembering the times she'd had in Knothole in the days after the battle of Adramalech... seemed an age ago, now.

"This..." Antoine started, looking around the room in awe, "this is for us? This is just... magnifique..." He ran his hands over the back of the leather couch, eyeing the old gold-trimmed paintings, the polished oak desk, a ship in a bottle sitting atop it, the carved stone fireplace, the black fur rug. "Pardon me, Marr, my friend, but how could you have not mentioned your society's exquisite taste for interior design? Such finesse, subtlety..."

Marr and Bunnie looked at each other. "Er..." they both hummed, in unison.

Antoine stopped cold at one of the glass cabinets, carefully opening the door to extract one of the hand-crafted teacups. "And is this..." he gasped in wonder, "genuine Francois handmold? Be still, my beating heart..."

"Is he alright?" Marr whispered, leaning towards Bunnie's ear.

"Just let 'im go," Bunnie said back. "He kinda has this thing for antique decor. Got it from his dad in the old days, I think."

"Ah." Marr led Bunnie to the desk, upon which sat an antiquated holographic terminal. "You can use this to make calls back home when you need to. I'm guessing you should get onto it right away, let your queen know you're okay."

It was one of the types she'd remembered Rotor using a fair amount during the early days of the coup. It had to be one of the pre-Great War type computers; the user interface was basic at best, which suited Bunnie just fine - she hadn't learned to come to grips with the newer style computers Rotor and Chuck were using these days, that they'd liberated from Robotnik's many decommissioned bases. "Appreciate it," Bunnie said. "Reckon she'll look forward to that. Nicole's a pretty motherly type."

Marr smiled again. "You don't need to tell me that."

"She did love to dote on you and Tails for some reason," Antoine said, coming up behind.

Bunnie giggled at him. "Finished fawnin' over the furniture now, are we Ant?"

Antoine turned up his nose in mock disgust: "One day, my little sunflower, you too will be learning to appreciate tze beauty in old-world decor."

Marr began to quietly turn to the door. "I should be letting you two go, now."

"Stay for a bit, Marr." Bunnie switched the terminal on, and began inputting the dial-in code for Castle Acorn. "Nicole's missed you, hon. She'll be glad to hear from you again."

"But I..." the lynx started, but Bunnie took her by the wrist and dragged her over. "Alright..."

Lupe's face flickered into the air, glowing in bright fluorescent blue: "Hello?"

"Lupe, it's us!" Bunnie said. "Can't ya see us? We got Marr here, too."

The wolf shook her head. "I'm getting voice, but no video. Don't worry about it though. How are things up there?"

"The mood's a bit tense, but we didn't get harassed or nothin'. We're good. Don't suppose Her Majesty is hangin' about by any chance?"

Lupe shook her head. "She's going over something with Rotor and Chuck, now. Getting ready to make an announcement. Things have gotten worse over the last day, Bunnie."

"Worse, you say?" Antoine gulped. "How much so? Is tze guard coping?"

"Yes, they're okay for now," Lupe explained, "but they're on twenty-four hour watch and the Second Guard has reported some injuries, and a squad's gone AWOL. We had a problem last night, Antoine. A crowd of rioters tried to storm the castle. Nicole ordered the SWATbots to deploy tear gas at the front gates. It's the only thing that's kept anyone from literally storming the place."

The room fell quiet.

"Oh, my stars..." Bunnie breathed quietly. "That ain't good. Ain't good at all..."

Antoine's response was more succinct: "Merde."

"Things are at a fever pitch now," Lupe continued, "Some very vocal critics of Nicole's rule are coming out of the woodwork, and a lot of people are listening. They think she's become power-drunk, that she's a conspirator, that there's some kind of hidden sabotage program that Robotnik or Snively installed in her programming that's surfacing now..."

"What is she planning to do now?" Marr asked, her voice quivering. Her tone was one of genuine worry; hopefully, Bunnie thought, she'd at least go someway to being representative of her compatriots here in the North.

Lupe took a deep breath, and shut her eyes tightly for a while. The fuzzy reception had made it hard to see before, but Bunnie now became acutely aware that Lupe was on the verge of tears. "I don't know," the wolf said. "Griff's told me that if things don't improve during tonight, she'll have one last card to play. She hasn't told anyone except him, and he's given his word to keep it a secret."

"No, no, no..." Antoine groaned, rubbing his temples. "This cannot be right. Why? Why would she want to keep anything from us at a time such as this?"

"I can only surmise is that her next move will be drastic, and her intention is to protect us," Lupe said quietly. Then she leaned forward, looking right into the camera: "Bunnie, Antoine..."

"We're here..." Bunnie said.

"I am praying to the spirits of my kin for you now. I am imploring them to help you uncover the truth behind this conspiracy before we lose our queen. I think... our last hope may lie with you."

"We will do our best, Lupe," Antoine said, looking Lupe in the eye despite his awareness that he wasn't visible on her end. "But we cannot promise a miracle. I hope your spirits will do their job, but you must stay strong, my friend."

She nodded, smiling as she choked out a sob. "I will, Antoine. If I see Nicole, I'll let her know that you are alright." She pressed her fingers to her temples, trying to regain her composure. "I-"

The sudden sound of a door slamming came through the computer's speakers. Lupe jumped in her seat, turning sharply away from the camera to someone behind her. "Knuckles? Who is-"

"Macska, this is Lupe." Knuckles' voice came from behind. "Lupe is one of the queen's royal advisers, and like all of them, she has been suffering every day since all of this began. Do you see, you idiot? All of this suffering is being inflicted by you and your bloody friends. You!"

"It's not my fault!" Another voice, male.

"Then who? Whose fault is it?"

Lupe stood up, hands on her hips. "Knuckles, who is this?" The terminal's projector now only showed her back, the rest of her body now out of the camera's field of vision.

"What on Mobius?" Marr scowled, looking at Bunnie. Bunnie only shrugged at her, and turned back to the computer. They all leaned forward, listening intently.

"Knuckles, I'm in the middle of a call!" Lupe shouted.

"Is that Bunnie and Ant on the line?" Knuckles' voice came from beyond. "I need to speak with them."

"Fine," Lupe hissed, her body moving out of the camera's view. "Speak, then. By the gods..."

Knuckles' face appeared on the projector. "Hi."

"'Hi'!?" Bunnie screamed. "Knuckles, has anyone told you lately that you are a certified, genuine, grade-A asshole?"

"Many times today, in fact," Knuckles said quickly. "But this is important. I've been trying to reach everyone from Knothole in the last day and I haven't been able to pin down anyone."

"Then what is it?" Bunnie spat.

"This camera working?" Knuckles asked, looking around. "I don't see any video feed on this end."

Bunnie rolled her eyes, running her hand over her face. "Yes, the freakin' camera's working!"

"Good," Knuckles said. "Do you know this guy? Because I caught him doing a little casual housebreaking back in Knothole, and he's told me that he knows you."

He dragged the feline into view of the camera.

"Cat!?" Bunnie and Antoine both gasped simultaneously.

He scowled, folding his arms. "Yeah, it's me."

"What happened to you?" Antoine said, his face contorting with shock. "Where have you been all these years? We thought you had been roboticised for sure!"

"You said your name was Macska," Knuckle's voice came from behind.

"But no one thought to check if I was roboticised, did they?" Cat growled into the camera.

"Sonic came back for you!" Bunnie snapped.

Knuckles poked his face into the camera for a moment: "Let's adjourn the happy huggy reunion for a while, shall we?" He turned to his feline 'friend'. "Now... tell them, Cat, what you were doing in Knothole, breaking into Lupe's hut."

Bunnie frowned. "Cat?"

He sighed. "I was just searching her Wolfpack codex. That's all."

"For?" Knuckles probed, poking him in the shoulder with one of his barbs.

"Information on the Antithesis," Cat sighed.

"You must be kidding." Lupe's voice came from the background. Evidently, she hadn't left the room.

Knuckles jabbed him again. "For whom?"

"The Cult of Xul," Cat said, staring at the desk in front of him.

"He must be kidding," Marr said, shaking her head.

Bunnie took a step back. "Suddenly, I'm gettin' the feelin' that everyone here knows more n' I do."

"The Antithesis is a myth," Lupe explained. "Either it's a place, or a thing, none of the explanations are really consistent. In all likelihood, it's neither. For gods' sakes, Cat, if you wanted to know about that, all you had to do was ask!"

"And what about this... cult?" Antoine asked, turning to Marr.

"Supposedly a hidden organisation of conspirators dedicated to advocating the rise of the inter-dimensional being Xul, better known to you, as the Void."

"Right..." Bunnie nodded. She'd remembered Tails telling her about this. That the Void was not so much a place that existed on its own, but a dimension that was sustained in the thoughts of a strange ancient being, one that had no real form. He'd also told her that Sonic and Marr had managed to kill it when it had tried to assimilate him. "Were they helpin' Naugus out all those years ago?"

"Not that any one of us has ever been aware of," Marr said. "And trust me, we've gone down that path before. Either they've managed to elude us at every single turn, or, far more likely, they don't exist at all."

Knuckles turned to Cat. "Did this cult ever take you into their headquarters?"

"Yes!" Cat said, staring at him with wide eyes. "They're out in the desert! The Great Unknown!"

"Then you'll show us how to get there?"

"They..." Cat slumped his shoulders, shaking his head. "They blindfolded me. Told me I was never to know how I got there. I know it's out in the desert, underground, somewhere. I never saw a landmark. Never even saw daylight."

A flash of Lupe's hip came up on the hologram, where she'd walked into the camera. "Well, is there anything you can give us? A name? A face? Anything?"

Cat shook his head, saying nothing.

Everyone looked at Marr.

"I know the stories of the cult," Marr said. "But I'm warning you, they are stories, and nothing more. They date back for generations, beyond any that still live today. That they intend to invoke the wrath of Xul and bring about some type of great cataclysm - I'm sure you've got your spook stories in the South, as well."

A sudden, vivid memory of Sonic's dreaded campfire tales entered Antoine's mind, making him shudder.

Knuckles gave the parting shot. "I suppose there's only one question left, Cat: why were you even with this crowd? Doing their bidding?"

"Because... I... hated everyone in this blasted city!" he groaned. "I wanted all the help I could get to bring this sham of a so-called monarchy down, and get a real government in place!"

"Did your contacts seem to echo your concerns?" Lupe asked.

"Of course they did..." Cat said, burying his head in his hands. "Why else would they have offered their help?"

"Could this be the crowd behind Christof's murder?" Bunnie proposed.

"That's a stretch," Lupe said, still out of shot. "Though the timing would be convenient, I suppose. Let's not forget, however, that we're talking about Cat supposedly being enlisted by a mythical organisation, to help them find a mythical object. It's more likely that someone's just pulling his tail."

"Probably," Bunnie said. "But listen, Lupe, can you let Nicole know about this? She has the entire royal archive written into her head. She might know something about these things that we don't, and if there's a connection, we gotta get onto this. We ain't got much time."

Lupe sat down in front of the camera and smiled. "I will make it so, Bunnie."

For a moment, Bunnie saw Knuckles' hand resting on Lupe's shoulder, and he pulled her aside to say something quietly in her ear. Then he was gone.

Lupe turned back to the camera. "We'd better go, now. Take care. All of you."

"We will," Antoine said. The transmission went silent.

The rabbit, coyote and lynx sat there for a few moments, looking at each other quietly.

"Guess we at least know a few questions we can ask around 'ere," Bunnie said, flopping onto the queen-size bed, staring at the hand-painted patterns on the ceiling with her hands behind her head. "But who do we ask?"

"I've a few ideas," Marr said. "We should report the summary of this conversation to Ari, before we do anything. Then I'd suggest we start with the critics here of the South."

Bunnie looked at her, propping her body up with her shoulders. "We're gonna have trouble with that, being southerners ourselves. If they ain't on our side, they ain't gonna be too forthcoming with us. How well do folks know you, Marr?"

"Uh..." Marr pursed her lips, thinking. "Not too well, really. I'm more of a bookish sort, I kind of keep to myself."

"Perfect!" Bunnie smiled. "You know any particular critics here you could start with?"

Marr shrugged. "Everyone?"

**II. One...?**

Duruga - one month before Christof's assassination.

There couldn't have been a better night for a raid.

Tails looked over at Sonic, who was still shivering despite the cover, and despite the thick rags the Kitsune had outfitted him with. The winds had picked up to a ferocious howl tonight, and they carried with them a harsh chill from the ocean. Tails could only just feel it through his armour and fur, but he had to imagine that Sonic's exposed arms and thin spines did little to shrug off the cold.

"So..." he started, regarding the structure below. "Picking off the weakest links in the opposition, bit of infiltration and theft. Just like old times, eh?"

Sonic gave him a laboured look. "No. It ain't."

They were laying prone under the thick underbrush, gazing over a mining village. The place looked militaristic though primitive at the same time; a crude set of fences had been erected out of wood branches and razor wire to form a perimeter, and within were a handful of dirty-looking miners gathering around an open fire. There were three armed guards patrolling the outside, but one of them wasn't moving - judging by his posture, he seemed to have nodded off on his feet, despite the tempest he was standing in. Just inside the fence a light was visible from inside a small building - evidently, that was the way in.

"We're not going to hurt anyone, Sonic. Just get in, grab their stash of power crystals and get out."

"I still ain't buying this crap," Sonic said, his voice low. "Raids on 'Buttnik's turf were a different ball-game. They were robots. These are people, and they don't seem like all bad sorts either."

"You didn't see the looks I've been getting these past few years, as I've gotten closer to this place," Tails said. "They hate Kitsune. They fear my kind. I was walking on eggshells wherever I went..."

"Not hard to see why..." Sonic frowned.

Tails turned away from him, bearing his canines. He could feel his Kitsune blood boiling, but his mind knew that Sonic had a point. But it couldn't be, that the Kitsunes' ultimate goal was conquest... surely? Everything Fiona had been telling him hitherto was of union with nature, with the land they lived in... if their neighbours were only willing to show contempt for them, it stood to reason that they would do whatever they needed to do in order to survive.

But still.

"We should go," Tails finally said, looking up above at a higher ridge. "We're on the clock, after all." He could still see Fiona's silhouette against the silvery clouds through the bustling foliage. He had no doubt that she was watching every move they were making, judging their performance every step.

"Okay," Sonic said. "By the numbers. We circle around, stick to the bushes, slip into the rock quarry and bust out before anyone even knows we're here. When you're ready, big fella."

Tails slithered out of the undergrowth, on his hands and feet, and rolled down the side of the incline, and came to rest gracefully on his belly under another thick cover of foliage. Sonic came down just as easily, going into a quick sub-sonic spin that sliced through a few branches on the way down. Peeking through the brush, they could see no evidence that they'd been noticed. Without doubt, the wind was doing wonders to hide any noise they were making.

Sonic hopped up to a low crouch, tapping Tails on the shoulder. "We'll go for the one who's asleep. Should be able to sneak on right past without him even wakin' up."

Tails nodded. "Agreed. Let's hustle."

They burst from the foliage in single file, and scurried along to the safety of the building where they were out of sight. The next task was a simpler one: tiptoe around the snoozing sentry and duck around the other side to enter the mine shaft. As soon as they got into the doorway, their shadows would be a problem - but if they were quick, they'd make it in before anyone took it as anything terribly suspicious.

Sonic poked his head around the corner for just long enough to spot the guard. He was brandishing some kind of musket, with a bayonet attached, but it was hanging limply at his side, a finger dangerously resting inside the trigger guard.

He ducked back near Tails, and said as quietly as possible, "Still snoozin'."

"You take the point, bro," Tails said, looking the other way for a moment. "Let's be quick before anyone sees us when we get in the light."

Sonic rolled forward, right in front of the sleeping guard, and came to rest at his side. When he saw Tails coming, he braced to duck around the corner again. When he felt Tails' tap on his shoulder, he went for it.

The next sequence of events happened within the space of a quarter of a second:

Tails moved out of cover and was half way across the guard's front when still in his sleep, he sneezed, apparently allergic. When he jumped into wakefulness, his finger brushed the trigger. The musket fired a round straight into his foot, the din of the shot echoing around the valley.

"Aaagh!" the guard fell over, still half-asleep, clutching his bleeding foot, his musket falling at his side. "Szakur! Szakuuur!"

Another of the guards came running, shouting something in Durugan. When he rounded the corner, he came face to face with Tails.

They looked at each other for a moment like concerned old friends. Then Tails slugged him in the face as hard as he could, sending him flying into the barbed fence. When he struck the wire, he hung there upright, limp and unconscious, like a rag doll.

Within seconds, everyone in the vicinity had took their arms and formed a circle around Sonic and Tails.

"Moocha lein!" one of them screamed at the top of his voice, aiming down the sights of his weapon straight at Sonic's sternum. The blade of his bayonet glistened in the light of the fire.

"I thought the idea was to not get noticed," Sonic said, raising his hands slowly.

"It wasn't me!" Tails stammered, annoyed. After noticing he had three rifles trained upon him as well, he began raising his hands.

On the ridge of the valley, Fiona looked on, an amused smirk on her face. Any normal Kitsune in the Enclave would have already slaughtered every living thing on the surface before heading underground, and had no second thoughts about it. Sonic and Tails had both insisted on going in alone, and taking the non-violent approach. Now they'd not even made it to the front door and they'd already screwed up.

"So, my friends..." she whispered to herself, "Will you end their lives for this?"

"So, my friend..." Sonic said to Tails. "What's next? We go quietly?"

Tails looked at him. "Nope."

They both ducked together, and lashed out. Tails' long leg went out, catching three Durugans in the back of the knees. Sonic went into a spin, bursting through the rabble - two of them fired, but both shots just went straight into the dirt.

Tails rolled through the stumbling guards, knocking them over like bowling pins, and brought his elbows down hard on two of them. Then, gracefully ducking under a razor-sharp blade, he came up with his fist to meet one of them in the jaw. He winced inwardly at the sound of shattering bone as his knuckle made contact with the Durugan's fleshy face, and he quickly followed through with a foot to the back of the skull to finish the job.

He turned around and found three bayonets pressed to his throat. Sonic was nowhere to be seen.

"Uh, hey..." he said, raising his hands above his head. "We can talk this over, can't we?"

One of them opened his mouth to speak, when Tails saw a finger extend from the dark to tap him on the shoulder. As soon as he turned his head, Sonic's fist smashed him in the face, and then his spin attack had leveled the rest of them.

They both surveyed the area, back to back. They now stood alone in a field, surrounded by prone, unconscious bodies.

"Mmmph," one of them gurgled, staring up at Tails through one swollen eye and reaching for his rifle that lay a few feet away. Tails casually knelt down, grabbed him by the collar and headbutted him hard enough to form a small crater in the dirt.

"Well," Sonic said, looking at his partner. "That didn't go so well."

"At least we didn't raise any alarms," Tails shrugged. "And we didn't kill anyone."

Sonic pursed his lips, looking down at one that Tails had smote under the chin, blood dribbling out of his mouth. "We sure hurt 'em though. This better not turn into a habit, Big Guy. I really don't feel right about this."

"We'll try not to," Tails said, heading for the heavy oak door into the building. He was greeted by a long, dimly lit shaft that ran deep into the bowels of the earth, a winch and cable at the side. Leaning over and listening out carefully, he could hear nothing. Evidently, the only actual miners here were among the vanquished behind him. "Looks deserted. You ready?"

He was surprised when he turned around and saw Sonic still staring at their foes, his eyes wide and skin pale with shock.

"Hey..." Tails said, resting a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"

Sonic's eyes darted up to meet his. "This ain't right, man. These guys didn't ask for this. How is what we're doing here, good?"

"It's..." Tails started, then stopped. "I guess it isn't good." It was a bitter thing to say, but in Duruga, there was no black and white.

The hedgehog gave him a look that befitted his modern-day self - resigned. "Well, it's too late to second-guess ourselves now. Let's just get these stupid gems and get outta here. This sucks."

Tails reached for the winch to raise the lift up to the ground level, and began to churn it with one arm. He felt his hands shaking even through the vibrations of the handle. He'd wanted to tell Sonic that he felt the same way, but there was something else bothering him more.

He felt great.

* * *

By about two in the morning, Tails lay in his bunk, staring into the dark. They'd done their job and they'd done it pretty well in his opinion. There'd been no casualties, which was a good sight more that he could've said than if someone else from the Enclave had attempted the task.

The hard canvas of his bunk was irritating him through his fur, and the cool air wafting through the room was too damp for him to slink into a comfortable position to sleep. He tossed over again in the darkness, shoving an arm under his pillow.

"Maybe you should go for a run or something, dude." It was Sonic's voice coming from the bunk below him.

"Sorry if I woke you," Tails said, leaning over the edge to make out his friend's outline in the gloom.

"I was only dozing man. Somethin' bothering you?"

"It's been bothering me all night now. One of the sentries we took out back over at the quarry."

"What about 'em?"

Tails swallowed hard before he spoke, momentarily weary of how Sonic might take what he said next. Maybe he'd finally twig, that his little buddy was maybe less himself these days than what he let on. "Fiona gave me her hook blade tonight. I told her I wouldn't need it, but she insisted I have it, even if I don't use it." He swallowed. "But I almost used it."

He could hear Sonic leaning out to look up at him, too dark to make eye contact but still just as confronting. "You would've killed one of those poor geezers just for a handful of rocks? What for?"

"Why do Kitsune kill at all?" Tails asked back. "It was instinct. My blood told me to do it. I took one of them down with my leg and my first thought was to just drive the blade right into the back of his skull. I'm starting to feel more like I'm sinking into this whole Kitsune way of living, but..."

"You don't wanna fit here."

"No chance, dude," he admitted.

"Me neither."

They'd started on this discussion before, but danced around the topic of their future here every time. Not this time.

Sonic cast the first stone. "We should be getting back to Mobius, bro. It's been a fun couple o' years and we've seen a lot I reckon. Never thought I'd say this though, but I miss being bored and lazy around Knothole."

"Then we need to get back," Tails said.

"How?"

"Haven't the foggiest, old friend. Our last ship sailed. Short of swimming, I think we're boned."

They were both quiet for a moment.

"Did Angie ever tell you what exactly his 'grand expedition' was supposed to be for?" Sonic asked. "Reckon he might be planning a trip to Mobius?"

"The thought occurred," Tails nodded. "Fiona told me that's how my family ended up on Mobius in the first place. An expedition from the Enclave, almost like an exchange program, I guess. A bit more one-sided than one of those, though."

"Yeah..." Sonic murmured. "We'd both better ask him about this tomorrow. Before you kill someone."

"Hah. Don't worry, I can keep myself in control." How long for, though, he had no idea.

"So..." Sonic whistled in the darkness. "How about her, huh?"

"Who?"

"Fiona."

"What about her?"

"You into her?" Sonic asked. Tails' ears pricked up slightly. Sonic had done his best to make the question sound playful, amused. But Sonic wasn't feeling either right now - he was worried.

"She's an ice queen. But I'm starting to find there may be more layers to her than we thought. She knew my father..." Tails said.

"Huh," Sonic huffed, settling back into his bunk, the rusty old mattress springs groaning as he moved. "So it's true then. This really is where you came from. Kinda hard to swallow."

"Yeah..." Tails mumbled. "There's something funny about this, Sonic. All of this."

"It took you this long to figure that out?"

"Why have they preserved this place so well? Why are we in here?" Tails grumbled, to himself mostly. "They know our spoken language. This is a crashed research vessel, way too unstable to be a first choice for lodging. The reactor, when I fixed it..." he paused, for a minute, thinking, and continued, "there were references in its computer to redundancy systems..."

Gods. What if...?

From somewhere in the ship's twisted hull, the sound of grinding metal echoed through the halls.

Tails leaped from his bunk and onto the cold steel tiles. "Come on. There's something we should be checking out, Sonic."

* * *

The corridors gave their bloody rustic shade up for a dull steel as they neared the core of the ship. Every step they took was swallowed up by the vibrations of the reactor, churning away in its bowels.

It was strange, Sonic thought, being the follower these days. Tails seemed more in control than anyone Sonic had seen now in the last several years, since they'd left Mobius to begin with. He supposed it'd be natural, since this was his expedition. Though some part of his personality resented being the one running in second place, another, more logical part, supposed it was probably a good thing.

The days of Robotnik were simple. The Kitsune were maddening - Angiris had been speaking with Sonic every day in a frank, almost fatherly, manner. And yet at the same time there was something so frustratingly opaque about the Kitsune leader. He was different from the others. It seemed the custom for a Kitsune to wear his feelings on his sleeve, almost like a badge of honour. Angiris seemed to have no trouble upholding that tradition, but something about his sentiments seemed ingenuine. Like they'd been rehearsed.

Whatever it was, Sonic was just glad to be taking action again. Real action, towards... what now, the truth? Was that what he'd been deprived of for so long? Perhaps. The din of the reactor was too thick, drowning out his thoughts. Everything felt wrong here.

"So, the reactor's log referenced three backup generators that should've been hooked up to the main power circuit in the ship," Tails was saying.

Sonic shrugged. "Okay..."

"Well, I looked at the time, and they weren't connected. At first I figured they'd just have to have been destroyed when this ship came down. But now that I've thought about it, I thought I would've seen at least some reference in the main power matrix to a subspace communication system."

"Eh, in Mobian, please?" Sonic asked, ducking under a loose cable. The halls were getting narrower.

"I've never exactly seen a starship before," Tails began. "But surely any ship that's going to leave a planet is gonna need some way of sending messages back and forth with their people, right? Why would a system like that not even come up in a list of ship features? Even after I got the main reactor going?"

Sonic scratched his head. "You think there's a radio on this ship, and it's been sabotaged?"

Tails turned around to him for a moment, shaking his head. "More like, subverted. I think there might be backup generators on this ship that aren't just working now, they've been working the whole damn time. Isolated from the rest of the ship. Angiris and Fiona know Mobian. Why?"

"Ol' pal Morris back in town knew it too," Sonic said. "And he even said it was the Kitsune language."

"Seems he got that part wrong - unless it's a deprecated language here or something." Or unless he was lying, of course. He'd need to ask Fiona about it.

A lone guard was standing outside of one of the doors in the hall here, a faint green light glowing from under the frame. As soon as Sonic rounded the corner and saw him, he pulled back, pressing his back to the cold steel wall.

"See someone?" Tails whispered.

"A sentry," Sonic said. "I think you're onto something here. We've gotta find out what he's guarding."

Tails peeked around just enough to get eyes on the Kitsune guard, leaning against the door. He looked relaxed, but still alert. "Can you create a distraction?"

Sonic gave Tails a smirk that seemed straight out of his youth. "Watch the master at work."

Strolling out openly into the hall, Sonic shot a smile at the guard, whistling an old Mobian tune.

"You're out late, ghu-rah. Return to your cot."

"Can't sleep," Sonic said. "And I don't want to be in the same room as Tails anyway right now. The kid drives me nuts these days, especially with what he's doing with Fiona."

The guard didn't budge, but raised an eyebrow.

It wasn't much of an opening, but Sonic had already made the first move, and there wasn't much choice but to push on forward. "You know, the hot little -"

"Yes," the sentry said. "What of it?"

"I'll level with you, dude. I think they might be... bonding. Right now. Back in my bunk. And they left the door open."

"I don't care. Get out of my sight, ghu-rah."

"She's a bit of a looker, huh?" Sonic said, now grasping at straws. "I mean, I've seen the way you gawk at her when you cross paths." Never mind that he'd never met this particular Kitsune before.

The guard looked at him, his eyes narrow as slits. "She is a... looker. As you say, ghu-rah."

Score.

Around the corner, Tails' ears folded back, and he found himself swearing under his breath. "Going to kill that hedgehog..."

"I think I might, uh... sneak a peek, if you know what I mean." Sonic suggested. "You wanna come?"

"I am guarding this door," the sentry said.

"Against what? Me? Him? I'm right here, and Tails is back in my quarters getting down. I ain't trying to fool you, bro. Contrary to popular belief, I actually like it here, and you're not a bad bunch."

"Mph," the sentry snorted. "Fine. We will see. Lead on, ghu-rah. But I'm only doing this because then, I know you are not causing mischief elsewhere."

As soon as they were gone, Tails crept out into the hall, sick to his stomach. He tried the handle, and mercifully, found it unlocked.

What he found inside took his breath away.

He'd wanted so badly to be wrong. But here it was, three monitors, live and active, a saved frequency dialled in and ready to connect. Feeling his gut tighten up further and further, he approached the keyboard.

* * *

Last used freq. 128 321 312 42a. Reuse?

admin mag13:$ yes

admin mag13:$ set mode "VOICEONLY"

Done.

admin mag13:$ connect

* * *

The terminal in front of him went dark and the one to his left lit up, with the word "CONNECTING" flashing on the screen. A moment later, it changed to "CALLING".

Then someone picked up.

"Hello?" The voice said. Mobian accent.

"Uh..." Tails' throat seized up, like he words had formed into stones from inside him and gotten stuck there. "Hello. Who am I speaking to?"

"Back at ya, friend," the voice came back. So familiar, that deep masculine drawl... Tails couldn't put his finger on who it might be.

"Wait..." Tails said, stalling for time.

"What on Mobius is this crap? Shut yer yap and get Angiris on the line."

"It's me, Miles. Do you know who I am?" Tails tried.

"Miles?" The voice went quiet for a moment, and Tails heard some muttering in the background. "Like, Miles Prower? The three-tailed kid?"

"Yes, Miles Prower. Who have I got here...?"

More murmuring in the background.

Then it hit him. That voice, all the way back to the early days of the reformation of the Acorn monarchy. "Is that you, Viktor?"

The line went dead, and the screen flashed in green phosphorous: "CONNECTION TERMINATED".

Tails backed up, taking long deep breaths, feeling his head growing heavier with each one. He slammed the door shut behind him, and began sprinting for his quarters.

Gods, a mole in Castle Acorn, speaking to Angiris. Just what kind of expedition was this going to be?

Meanwhile, Sonic had run out of excuses for stalling. "So, uh... how is you guys manage to understand me? Don't you have a language of your own?"

"You speak in the old tongue," the sentry told him. "You know so little, meat."

"Cut us a break, bro. I'm learning, at least." Sonic's heart was pounding - he hadn't really thought ahead far enough to explain away why they'd get back to his quarters to find nobody there.

The signs were not looking good - down the wide hall, he could see the light in their quarters was off, just the way he and Tails had left it.

"Maybe they're through already," Sonic murmured. "That's not much of an innings of ol' Tails."

"Or maybe Fiona has slit his throat," the sentry said, growing ever more displeased, and suspicious.

They stopped at the door. Sonic slowly reached for the switch. When the light came on, Sonic's eyes widened with surprise.

The sentry looked down at him. "What is this, hedgehog?"

Tails sat up in his bunk, rubbing his eyes, putting on his best yawn. "Uh... something wrong, guys?"

The sentry turned around and pushed Sonic aside, striding back to his post. "Waste of my time! Stupid ghu-rah..."

Sonic hit the light again, and slipped back into his bunk. "That's gotta be the quickest fling in recent history."

Tails grunted. "You're an ass, Sonic."

"Didn't say I ain't grateful for it," Sonic chuckled. "It's a good thing you got back before I did, otherwise that guy back there would've had questions I didn't have answers for. So did you find out anything?"

The fox swallowed hard. The nausea wasn't going away. "Better shut the door."


	8. The Best Morning Of My Life

**-= The Best Morning Of My Life [The Second Interlude] =-**

Present day.

My name is Nicole. I'm the Queen of the Acorn Empire, situated in Mobotropolis of Mobius South.

I think I slept for thirteen, maybe fourteen hours last night. I was used to the alarm being the thing to wake me in the mornings, but today, it was the crack of dawn, and my eyes were wide open, staring at the swirling old patterns of the ceiling in my bedroom. The sun tinted everything in streams of rich bronze, its thin stripes tumbling through the blinds and across my body.

Sitting up in bed, I stretched and yawned, feeling the artificial bones in my neck and back clicking in place, and tossed aside the covers. My toes wriggled in the soft carpet when I got out. Outside, I could see the pink clouds off in the distance, a bird briefly flying past to perch itself somewhere on the castle roof. I imagined that the clouds would be rolling in later today, and getting darker with the hour, but that was a worry for then, not now.

The shower beckoned. I began shuffling over to the bathroom, tossing my blouse and pants aside as I went. I showered long enough for the skin on my fingers to wrinkle up. I used the fruit-scented shampoo today, that I kept for special occasions, and spent half an hour painting my face with the same makeup I'd used on the day of my inauguration.

I looked at the cat in the full-length mirror, from head to toe. Those beautiful green eyes I'd been blessed with all those years ago shone like emeralds this morning, and I couldn't remember the last time I'd looked in those eyes to find the dark circles under them were gone. I know I've complained that sometimes I feel maybe, a little out of place in my current body. I'll admit sometimes it feels like I don't know who I am. Today, though... I was looking at Nicole Genevieve Acorn. Me. And I saw that it was a good thing to be.

Throwing on a bathrobe, I made my way out to the kitchen - none of the royal cooks were up yet, so I made my own breakfast - nothing too extravagant, just a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and some toast with butter and a sliver of raspberry jam.

I took the plate into my office, and sat down at my desk. Normally the first order of the day was to switch on the holographic computer and read over the day's tasks and news, but today I wasn't that bothered. To be honest, it just didn't seem important. Instead, I turned around in my chair, folded one leg over another, and looked out the window.

The first signs of movement for the day were starting to show. A package delivery hovercraft was cruising the streets, the road all to itself. The bakery down the road had its lights on, the folk inside hard at work producing the day's batch of fresh bread.

Then it was time for a run. I threw on some clothes - just a simple set of loose cargos and a singlet. I tied my hair back, threw on some perfume, and stepped outside.

Out on the courtyard lawn, I saw Lupe had beaten me outside, practicing her martial arts on the grass.

"Good morning!" I hollered, breaking into a stride to close the distance.

"Oh, Nicole," Lupe said, exiting her combat stance and turning to me. Her eyebrows went up at the sight of me. "Hello. You're looking... well, today." There was no sarcasm in her voice, but there was plenty of surprise.

I gave very unladylike bow: "Thanks," I beamed. "I thought I was going to beat you out of the castle this morning. Guess not."

Lupe wiped her forehead with the back of her arm. "I was actually about to freshen up and head back in, get things started for the day. Where are you headed?"

I shrugged. "Just going for a run. I'll be back in an hour or so."

"Didn't you say yesterday that we'd be catching up first thing this morning to prepare a press release?" She frowned.

"Ah, don't worry about it," I said, flicking my hand as if I were taking the idea and tangibly throwing it into the grass. "We've got all day, right? It's a beautiful morning, let's just enjoy it for what it is, for a change. What do you say? Take the morning off, we'll meet up after lunch."

Lupe looked at me for a while with some puzzlement. After a moment, it turned to worry, and then it all fell away, like she'd finally clicked. "I suppose I could use the time," she said, smiling. "I'll see you in your office at midday, then."

"Great," I nodded, and watched her turn to gather her mat and towel from the ground, and begin heading for the porch. "Lupe, one more thing," I called after her. "Come back a moment."

She dropped her things where she stood, and walked back over. "Yes?"

I held my arms out at my sides earnestly, and took a step towards her, cocking my head, a ludicrous grin on my face. "Please?"

Lupe gave a light chuckle, mirroring my smile. "Of course."

She walked right up and I threw my arms around her, squeezing as hard as I could and kissed her on the cheek. I felt her hands folding around my back, giving me a gentle pat.

I could feel her breathing in my ear, the warmness of her near me, and before I knew it, I was sobbing. "Lupe, I've gotta say something," I choked the words out, the water welling up in my eyes and in my sinuses, making me sound like I had a peg on my nose.

Lupe pulled back and looked at me, her eyes furrowed. "You okay?"

I smiled and nodded at her through the tears. "I'm fine. Really. But just hear me out on this one thing."

"Of course, what is it?"

"I love you. All of you," I said to her. "In all this time, I haven't said it nearly as much as I should. I'm supposed to be the Queen and call all the shots, answer to no one. But I've been leaning on you all the whole time. Over these past seven years, you, Antoine, Bunnie, Rotor, Chuck, Griff, old Rosie back in Knothole, Knuckles... you've always been there for me."

I stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath, and pulled her in again, hanging on tightly.

"You're the best family I've ever had," I said, the words pouring out of me like a cup running way over. "I love you so much..."

Lupe gave me a reassuring squeeze, and I rested my head on her shoulder for a moment, hearing her heart thumping right through her body. "We love you too, Nicole. And you've always been there for us, too. Don't ever think we'll forget that, will you?"

I leaned back, holding her at arms length, looking her in the eyes. "Nope."

"You going to be alright, Highness?"

I sniffed and nodded, giving her shoulders a squeeze. "Uhuh. Sorry, I guess I just have to let that valve open every now and then. Thanks, Lupe."

Lupe gave a good laugh. "Don't be sorry, love. I'm just glad to be at your side. So," she broke contact with me, and turned back for her things. "Midday, at your office?" she asked, over her shoulder.

I nodded again. "Uhuh."

"See you then, then."

"Bye, Lupe." I waved, and watched her heading inside the castle again, and looked around at the high walls, old as the Acorn Empire itself had ever lasted and not looking a day worse for wear.

I strolled lightly along the grass, and out the gate, feeling like I weighed nothing. Then I ran.

I ran.

I ran until Mobotropolis was gone, and all around all I could see was green and gold and blue and brown and purple and red. The air tasted like sweet, cool water, and smelled even better. I bobbed my head up and down, the wind in my ears phasing in and out, mixing with the sound of chirping birds and the gravel crunching beneath my feet.

The trees stretched from the ground and went up like they'd never stop until they reached the clouds. The long grass and the long branches swayed to and fro like they could go on dancing forever. I kept running and more than ever it felt like everything was alive.

The world was alive. I was alive. I was part of it. It was part of me. Everything sang to me and courted me and complimented me and my God, it's so hard to believe that I don't wake up and realise this every friggin' day.

It was around eleven when I finally got back to the castle. Griff was waiting for me just outside my office, along with two other soldiers.

I nodded and smiled at him. He nodded back, but there was no smile on his face.

"Miss Acorn," he began, with his face as straight as possible. "I'm hereby placing you under arrest for the murder of Lord Christof of the Brotherhood of Thamael, and crimes against the national security of Mobius South."

One soldier stepped forward with a pair of shackles in his hand, and I nodded towards him as I offered my wrists like a blood sacrifice. The cold metal slapped against my skin, and I looked him in the eye. He stared straight back - he was no coward. He wasn't a million miles away. He was right here.

"You will be held in detention indefinitely until a jury is assembled," Griff continued, reciting the lines straight from the old Mobius military manual. "You will be notified in due time as to when your hearing is scheduled to occur, at which time you will have the opportunity to defend and or redeem yourself, or accept your prescribed sentence. Now, please come with us." He turned around, to lead myself and his two soldiers to his hovercraft, where I'd be transferred to detention.

"Griff," I asked.

He stopped in place, his back to me.

"Make sure Ari knows about this," I told him.

He nodded just enough to notice, and began walking again.

And so the trust for this nation now settles in their hands. And the blame for this horrible situation rests in mine. I will confess to a crime not committed by me. I will accept my sentence. And I'll have my punishment for you all, for the hope that you can make things right again, and the flow of blood can be stemmed.

Because I have to do this. Before I forget the reason I live with this. Because even though you'll hate me, I'll still love you. Because I know you are good people. And you don't deserve to suffer.

You don't deserve to suffer.

You don't deserve it.


	9. Hail and Farewell

_Thanks so much to those of you who've been reading and doubly so to you guys taking the time to review this story. I really, truly appreciate it._

**-= Hail and Farewell =-**

**I. Shattered**

Duruga. One month before Christof's assassination.

Angiris stood at the ridge of the Reve-Na for a moment, feeling the spray of its immense foam soaking through his fur, the din of the cascading water pounding through his head, and took a deep, long breath that tasted of the spring. It wasn't often that he felt like he had very much time to enjoy the small pleasures, not these days.

He turned, and ducked under a hardened fist coming at him like lightning. When he saw his opponent's body heaving for another swing, he hopped up, as Scala Grama doubled back and went, predictably, for a low sweep with his foot. As soon as he was back on his feet, Angiris' came back with a blow of his own.

Caught off balance, Scala batted it away with one palm, then dodged the next, coming at his torso, with another.

They stopped for a moment, eyes locking.

Angiris lowered his fists, and took a few steps back. "Good," he said in Mobian.

"I've been thinking as I was sparring with the other lieutenants," Scala said, nodding. "We all have our own styles and patterns. I see how you are managing to win in fights so often, Padra. You are alternating between styles, randomising. It makes you less predictable than the others."

"That's the impression I try to give," Angiris said. "One can never really be completely unpredictable, however. The Kitsune mind is always prone to ordering itself. The challenge is trying to overcome that tendency."

Scala Grama was the closest thing to a right-hand that Angiris had, and - though Angiris had never dared to mention it - the closest thing to a son that he had. It was little wonder Fiona hated the middle-aged fox so much, and she'd make no secret of it when the two crossed paths.

He was shorter than average for a Kitsune, but beneath his dull brown-green fur, Scala had muscles that wrapped around his bones like the corded roots of a great oak, and the kind of jealous, hardened determination that reminded Angiris of the way his father had been in his youth.

There was little doubt that the way that Scala had been chastised for being small by his brethren in his youth, had shaped him into something harder than most. When you're young, and facing adversity, there are two ways you can go - either you skulk into the shadows, chased away by your fears and your shame, or you weather the abuse until your hide becomes thicker than any leather.

He looked away for a moment, leaning against the trunk of the tall ancient tree beside him, back over at Gorromandas - that hulking pile of crudely fashioned metal that had fallen from the stars years ago. The thing was nothing but an eyesore, in his opinion.

"Commit that sight to memory while you can, lad," Angiris said, following Scala's gaze. "We're not long for this place."

"There is room in my memories for better things than that rickety old chariot," Scala said. "Kitsune aren't made for scurrying around in the dark like the mice. We breathe the fresh air, and we look out to the distant mountains and see that-"

"Everything in our sight is ours, yes, yes," Angiris finished for him. "Of course. I know few have enjoyed taking shelter inside Gorromandas, or even near it. But surely even you must admit it's bestowed some mighty gifts upon us!"

"Not arguing there," Scala smirked. "If only Gela Janassa were here to see where you'll be taking us."

Angiris frowned. "If Janassa were alive, things would be... quite different." He felt his heart and lungs flutter with the sound of her name. "But the world changes for no fox. Speaking of which, I'd call it time we saw to how the vessels are coming along. They'd better be almost fit for the voyage to Mobius now."

"It'll be a good feeling, to be standing on the soil of the Otherland," Scala grinned.

"Indeed," Angiris said, running a hand through his thick mane.

"Thirded." Sonic's voice, coming from above.

Angiris and Scala both looked up.

"Can we not throw this stinking meat in the Reve-Na already?" Scala groaned. "He's nothing but a pest." He looked up at Sonic, who had, evidently, been sitting casually on one of the branches, eavesdropping on their entire conversation. "Come down here, ghu-rah. Let me break your neck and feed you to the war cows like a good prey!"

"I assume there is a reason you've been up there spying on us," Angiris said. His voice carried no degree of surprise or other discernable emotion - it was a careful facade that Sonic imagined it'd taken him considerable time to build, and even more to maintain.

"What can I say?" Sonic shrugged, his mouth tightening into a worn-in, characteristic smirk that belied the seething rage he was feeling inside. "I like to be up with the times. 'Specially when the times are concerning my own backyard." He pulled a leaf from the branch next to him, scrunching it up between his fingers, letting the small pieces of it drift away in the wind. "You never told me a whole lot about this great expedition when I asked. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume it's like an exchange program, right?"

"You must know by now that this isn't the first time we've been to Mobius," Angiris said with a smile, folding his arms. "Otherwise you wouldn't have Tails at your side these days. His father, Grovak, was there. It pains me to the day that he never made it back."

"Oh, yeah, sure," Sonic snorted. "Pains you that your man never came back here with all the intel you wanted for a little impromptu hello?"

"I'm not one to lie about my feelings, hedgehog," Angiris said, his voice going low. "I can assure you that Grovak was a dear friend to me. I rued the day that we gave up hope and cast his armour into the river!"

"Well, I guess you ain't doing a lot of mourning now that you've got Viktor feeding you info about Mobius! I'm sure you know all there is to know for this whole holiday you're all about now."

Angiris' lip twitched. Touche, hedgehog. Touche.

Scala rested one weighty paw over the scabbard of his hook blade. "He knows," he whispered to the Padra Utama.

"So he does," Angiris nodded. "Well, then, hedgehog. What of it? Are you not elated at your chance to rejoin your people?"

Sonic's smirk finally fell off his face completely. "What's your game here, you chump? Tails and I ain't been raiding all these settlements outside of this valley for tourism gifts. We've been lifting ore and schaolite for months. Enough to build a whole freakin' fleet, and make a nice little arsenal while you're at it. You really think you can pull the wool over my eyes?"

Scala's gaze darted from Sonic back to Angiris. "Let's kill him," he growled, taking two strides towards the tree. "Then the Prower kid as well."

Angiris slowly shook his head, his arms folded. Scala turned back, saw Angiris' frown, and stopped in his tracks as if Angiris' gaze alone had ensnared him on the spot.

"Well... Sonic Hedgehog," Angiris began, his gaze even. "It appears we arrive at an impasse. You cannot allow us to leave. I cannot allow you to stop us. What do you suggest?"

Sonic felt his veins beginning to throb with the violent pumping of blood, laden with adrenalin, and dropped gracefully from the branch, into the long grass.

The Padra Utama raised an eyebrow without moving. "Well?"

"Duel," Sonic said, before he could think it through enough to assess just how stupid that idea was.

Scala let out a low, stifled giggle, that gradually worked its way up into hysterical laughter. "You? Against the honourable Padra Utama, Angiris Moro? Do you even know what you are proposing here, ghu-rah?"

Sonic shrugged, trying to look disengaged. "Wouldn't be the first time. Right, Angie?"

Angiris took a slow, subtle breath, his chest rising and falling slowly behind those folded tree trunks of arms. "Very well, then. A duel. If I live, you will die, and we will go. If I die, the Kitsune will never again seek the Otherland. Scala shall bear witness to this, as my lieutenant."

Scala sunk to one knee, clenching a fist against his chest. "Galala gruma. I am your witness."

Angiris took a step towards Sonic, and rested a hand on his shoulder. "This is your last chance to renege on your offer of a duel."

A voice in Sonic's head began screaming, begging him to accept Angiris' offer of surrender. He'd won one battle against him, but something seemed different here. Angiris had now had plenty of time to judge the hedgehog, and where there had been boisterous bravado and cocky arrogance in the Kitsune leader on the previous occasion, there was now a dangerous quietness in its stead.

Something about his touch on Sonic's shoulder felt welcoming, fatherly.

Sonic took a step back, and shook Angiris' hand. "It's been a pleasure, Padra Utama," he said, in Kitsune.

"Indeed," Angiris said.

Scala's smirk was gone, replaced with humbled disbelief. The Padra Utama, shaking the hand of a prey animal and conveying his respect. Surely, this was one for the fables.

They both took five paces back from each other, and stopped, the wind curling around them, forming waves in the lush grass.

_I could kill for a power ring right about now_, Sonic thought to himself. Having Tails at his side would've been great too, but the guy had been missing since Sonic had awoken that morning. He could only guess that he was off trying to grill Fiona about her father's plans - in between attempts at bedding her, maybe.

"I'm ready," he said.

Then in a flash, Angiris' eyes turned white, the flashes in them burning so brightly that Sonic had to squint. The Padra Utama's tails cracked like a whip, and he sprung forward, slamming into Sonic as hard as he could.

The hedgehog flew into the air like a rag doll from the force, blinded and caught completely off guard. He went into a spin as he hit the dirt, carving out a deep gouge in the earth, and sprung to his feet.

He could see the silvery outline of Angiris up ahead, but everything was coming up in double, his ears ringing from the lightning-like crack. The Kitsune's body was wreathed in something black and ethereal, swirling about his body restlessly. Giving his head a quick shake, Sonic sprung to his feet, and charged.

As Angiris braced for the hit, Sonic darted to the left, and slid just under his left side, rolling to a stop and doubling straight back. With Angiris' back to him, Sonic spun with all of his might, his spines moving like razors.

And as suddenly as it seemed like he was about to hit, Angiris' hand reached through and grabbed him by the throat. All of Sonic's pent-up momentum, suddenly, had been deflected with a simple motion of the hand, and for a hundredth of a second, as his body continued to spin around with the force, he felt like he'd end up with his neck snapped from his own spin. But Angiris' wrist pivoted, letting Sonic's flailing limbs dispel their inertia, and rolled his body through the grass with the hedgehog.

Angiris rose to his feet again, and drove his fist directly into Sonic's undefended face.

Before Sonic even knew what had happened, he felt his nose cave in, and then Angiris' fist came again, driven hard into his stomach.

He'd never felt such agony in years, since the days when he was a Freedom Fighter up against Lilith, when her mutated Wolfpack had attacked him. One of his ribs snapped like a branch in his abdomen, and any chance of him fighting back with any degree of effectiveness, suddenly disappeared.

Angiris let go of the hedgehog's throat, and he dropped to the dirt like a sack of potatoes, gasping desperately for air, every ragged breath bulging against his broken rib, sending rippling waves of pure agony through every inch of his body. His eyes vision blurred through his tears, his opponent standing over him, a dark grey silhouette against the morning sun.

The Padra Utama's voice sounded distant, like it was being spoken down the end of a long hall. "You fight well, Sonic Hedgehog of Mobius."

Scala's smirk came back. After all the respect Angiris had shown the ghu-rah, he'd almost come under the impression that Sonic had actually stood some kind of chance against him.

"But understand me when I say this. The Padra Utama is the ruler supreme of all Kitsune. I have killed many to become what I am. And my power knows no bounds. None of my kin question my dominance."

"You..." Sonic croaked, clutching at his shattered nose with one hand and his smashed ribcage with another, blood bubbling from between his lips. "The last time we fought... you let me win."

Angiris simply shrugged. "My daughter had told me that Mobians do not kill. I wanted to see if she was right." He looked out wistfully to the Reve-Na for a moment, and sighed. "I suppose she was, perhaps. But I saw in your eyes now, hedgehog, that you would've killed me now, if you could. An animal with its back against the wall will do a great deal to save itself, even a Mobian."

The words were only half-registering for Sonic. He was becoming delirious from the pain, waiting for his own death to relieve him of it.

"You should finish him, now, Padra," Scala urged his master. "There's no virtue in tormenting the ghu-rah."

Angiris knelt down at Sonic's side, cradling his head in one massive paw. "You spared me when I was bested by you all those years ago, Sonic." His other hand rested on the hedgehog's leg, just below the knee. "I think there's something to be said for mercy. It's a sign of strength, a sign of a good nature. I'd like to return to you the boon that you gave me when we first fought. I will let you live."

Sonic's head was spinning, and he struggled to keep his eyes open. "There's a good sport," he gurgled quietly.

"But I also can't allow you to follow us back to Gorromandas, or to interfere with my vision. I hope you'll forgive me for this one day, if you yet survive."

And then Angiris' arm came crashing down on his shin, splitting the bones in twain, and again on his other. Sonic howled with the pain like he'd never howled before. Nothing could have prepared him for such intense suffering.

Scala and Angiris' voices were almost inaudible through the roaring in Sonic's head.

"What of the boy Prower?" he could barely hear Scala saying. "I couldn't find him or Fiona this morning."

"They're most likely hunting," Angiris said, starting to walk off. "I'll speak with him when he returns, and allow him his decision then."

And then they were gone, and Sonic was left prone and solitary in the grass, staring up at the clouds, his head filled with the rush of water, the calling of birds, the thumping of his heart.

Then soon after, all was quiet, and all was dark.

* * *

"So, how is it today?" Sally asked.

It was one of those red letter mornings in Knothole. Like the kind you got on Christmas day - it shouldn't have been any different to any other day, but the birds sounded different when they sang, the air tasted different, and you could see it in anyone's eyes when you spoke to them, that they were feeling just the same way.

Sonic sat back in his chair, staring at his bowl of cereal in front of him, then down at his ankle, now ensconced in hard plaster from where he'd rolled it the night before. "It's healing. Slowly. This is totally contra to my raison d'etre."

The princess giggled. "My, my. Using the big words!" She took a bite out of her toast, spread with butter and marmalade that Rosie had made the other day, putting a finger thoughtfully to her chin. "I'm going to drop in on Antoine and Bunnie in a little while, to see how they've pulled up after yesterday."

The hedgehog couldn't help but let his mouth curl up into a smile. "I don't think I've ever seen that clown looking so happy about anything in his life. Or Bunnie, come to think of it. You'd think they'd gone on a date to the movies instead of blowing up giant planet-smashing cannons."

"I know!" Sally grinned. "It's... I mean, I never, ever would've seen it between them, but it's awesome, actually. Really awesome."

Sonic sighed. "If my ankle weren't in such bad shape, I would've-"

Sally stood up, and patted him on the shoulder. "Yes, yes, you would've gone after Antoine and saved him from Lilith's crew. I know, you've been saying it all week."

"Exactly!" Sonic said, missing the sarcasm. "Instead, I'm back here, getting babysitted by Princess Acorn."

Sally knelt down in front of him and pinched his cheek. "Aww. You poor, poor thing, Sonic. You know," she mused, glowering a little. "I've kind of enjoyed this. Taking care of you. Just makes me think how well we all take care of ourselves these days."

The hedgehog stirred his spoon around in his bowl, watching the little ripples it left in its wake. "You did a good job with that cast, Sal. And thanks for the dinner last night. Again."

"Do you think I'll make a good mother, some day?" Sally asked, pinching the front of her vest and holding it out in front of her, like it'd look with a big pregnant belly beneath it.

Sonic's eyes bugged out. "Uh... er... I don't think that's something you'll need to think about for a while-"

"Yeah, but..." Sally pouted, then she closed her eyes contentedly. "It'd be nice. One day."

"Maybe when my foot heals it'll be time to think about that."

"Oh, come on!" Sally said, turning for the bench, where Sonic's crutches were waiting. "You know you're not going to be like this forever, so quit complaining. Come on, let's go. Let me give you a hand up."

Her blue eyes looked down at him past her outstretched hand. Sonic took it gratefully, hopping up out of his chair and putting an arm around her shoulder. "Thanks, Sal."

"You good?" Sally asked. "Can you stand alright?"

"Just give me the freakin' crutches, will ya?" Sonic grumbled, reaching across for one. _And Sal... I'd better not say this now, or you'd get too used to it. But man… how would I ever get by without you?_

* * *

When Sonic woke again, the sun was setting. An ant was crawling across his belly, and he swatted it away quickly. When he moved, the pain returned, surging in great throbbing torrents through his legs and chest and face.

The more he tried to move, and the more his body refused, the angrier he got. "Angiris!" he screamed at the wind, the exertion suddenly making him feel like someone had driven a knife into his side and stopping him from exhaling further.

Home had never seemed so far away - not even after being away from it so many years.

He felt ruined. With two broken legs now, he'd be lucky to crawl his way back. For the last few years, he'd almost felt ready to give up trying for anything.

But now... now that he was so close to the brink, that was the last thing on his mind.

Gritting his teeth, he began moving his arm around behind him. When he finally sat up, the pain seized him, just as intense as before. He looked over the field, the last of the day's light fading before him. His fists clenched, pulling out the loose grass and grinding it between his fingers.

"I'll be back for you," he growled. "Smarter people than you have made the mistake of letting me live!"

**II. My Racing Heart**

Fiona stood alone in the light of dusk, knee-deep in the water where she'd spent so many evenings. Sonic and Tails were both gone when she'd gone to see them today, and now that she was by herself again, the feeling was strange, but relaxing.

"What kind of times are these?" she said quietly to herself, awkwardly at first, but then taking a deep breath, she continued. "Has it really been a year already? Since that pup showed up on my doorstep?"

She sank to her knees with a splash, sending a wide ring of ripples cascading away from her. She watched them hit the bank, then turn back and come at her again, half as strong as before. Watched them make their way back to her, bouncing off of her knee and fading to nothing. She wrapped her arms around herself, closing her eyes.

There was another light splash, and she felt another wave lapping against her. Opening her eyes again, she saw Tails standing at the edge of the water, arms folded. "Q'ala farad, Fiona Moro."

"Q'ala farad," she said back, straightening up in the water. Something was wrong.

From the formal greeting, to his stance, to the look in his eyes. He'd let his long locks of orange hair fall freely across his face, and his gaze behind it was like a statue's, obscuring all thought or feeling behind it. She hadn't ever known him to be a small Kitsune, but his time at Gorromandas had shaped him into something of a giant. She'd remembered the stories Sonic had told her of a two-tailed kit that they'd found in the woods one day, one that would go running through the woods with him, eating chili-dogs with him and borrowing his phrases. Looking at the fox standing before her, the link between this one and the one on the stories was a hard one to make.

"Did you know?" he asked, not moving a muscle.

The daughter of the Padra Utama huffed impatiently. "Again with your Mobian riddles," she growled. "You have a problem? Say."

"No riddles," Tails said quietly. "If you know, then you know. About your father. About his talks with people in my continent. Preparing for an invasion of Mobius, buttering Sonic and I up for intel."

Fiona blinked, suddenly acutely aware of the feeling she'd been getting over the last year. "I had... a feeling. But he never tells me-"

"Oh? He never tells you anything?" Tails' voice was as low, rumbling and dangerous as that of the Padra Utama himself. "I don't believe you. How could you, his own daughter and second in line, be in the dark about this?"

She slowly rose out of the water to her feet, making sure her hook blade was still close by.

"Sonic is behind me in the woods, unconscious, with two broken legs, a broken nose and from the sound of his breathing, a fractured rib as well," Tails said, quietly. "If he doesn't get medical attention, I don't think he's going to walk again."

Fiona took a step forward. "Then why are you coming to me with him, you dolt? Go back to Gorromandas and take him to the healer!"

"Why do you think Angiris would've done this to him?" Tails shouted.

"Angiris?" Fiona hurled back at him. "What kind of stupid fool dream have you been carrying? Father has no cause to-"

Tails shook his head. "Of course he has cause! He knows we know his plans! What use does he have for us now?"

Fiona's shoulders slumped a little. "So, it's true... this was his plan. Thought he could use me to give him all the answers he'd wanted from Grovak in the olden days."

Tails shook his head slowly in disbelief. "And you never knew? Never even suspected?"

She growled at him, baring her fangs. "Of course I suspected. How stupid do you think I am?"

"Very!" Tails snapped at her, hunching his back, ready to pounce. "I suppose you've been telling him every little factoid I ever gave you about Mobius along the way, too. Am I right?"

"No!" she screamed it at him as hard as she could, wishing it'd blast him off his feet. "You're wrong. You're wrong, you fool ghu-rah Mobian soft-fleshed waste!"

Tails' eyebrows went up. "What?"

Fiona leapt from her feet and straight into him, landing three hard blows to his face before he even knew what was going on. They hit the mud at full force, and tumbled away from the lakeshore and into the thick, leaf-strewn grass.

Tails' arms went up to fend off her blows, and finally he came back with his own, sending a jolt of ethereal fire that blasted her off of him and back into the water.

She rolled into a ball as she landed on her back, kicking up a spray of white foam, and came to a stop on the bank. She lay there for a moment, and achingly sat up. "Damn you, Miles Prower."

He stood across from her, watching her carefully, panting from the sudden exertion. "You never told him anything?"

"Never."

"It would've been easier for you, if you did."

Fiona nodded. "Much."

Tails cocked his head to one side. "So why didn't you?"

"Because..." He saw her lips moving to complete her sentence, and her eyes shutting tightly.

"Speak up."

Fiona shook her head. "Father is a different person from the one who raised me as a kit," she said. "When the Gela Utama, Janassa Moro, my mother, died. He changed. He grew cold, and distant. More ambitious."

"You grew apart?"

"Mother told me that the Kitsune are proud, that we stand alone, and we are at peace with the world. We hunt and we take what we need and we stay strong. But we do not conquer. We do not scheme or lie. I want to spit on my father's plans and spit on my kind and leave this place. I want no part in their conquest."

Tails began treading through the water over to her. "So why didn't you? Why string us along? Why go with it?"

She stared at the water swirling around her feet, the moonlight reflecting off of it.

He took another step towards her. "Fiona-"

She lashed out at him with her claws bared, making him recoil. "Hssss!"

He sighed. "There's nothing wrong with loving your father, Fiona. You don't have to agree with him to do that. Nothing would change how you feel about him."

"Mph."

"Look, please..." he reached out, carefully, half-expecting a hook-blade to the throat. But when he rested a hand on her shoulder, all he got was a look sullen resignation. "I'm gonna try and find a way to stop this invasion. I'm not going to ask you to take part in helping me. But I need supplies from that ship's infirmary so I can make sure Sonic makes it through."

Fiona clenched her fists, and sniffed loudly. "Mph," she grunted again.

"I can't go back there now. They'll kill me if I do," Tails said. "Go back, grab one of the medical kits from the infirmary and bring it back here. Can you do that for me?"

She made a low gurgle, wriggling away from him. "No, no, no..."

"Fiona!" Tails reached out with both hands, giving her a light shake. "Please. I can't leave my best bud like this."

She stood there for a while, arms limp at her sides at first. And then in a move that surprised her more than any, she found her right hand slowly raising to rest over Tails', on her shoulder. "Okay," she said.

He smiled at her. "Thank you."

His eyes drifted to her hand resting over his own – bare hands, with no gloves these days. He could feel the warmth of her palm.

For a moment, he thought he saw the corners of her lips twitching upward.

Fiona pulled Tails' hands aside, turned, and began striding towards the underbrush. "Stay here with him, keep him comfortable. I will be back soon." And then she was gone, her tails flicking to and fro as she vanished into the dark.

"Fiona," Tails called after her. "We'll make it through this. All of us. Promise."

There was a few moments of silence, before her voice came back from the underbrush, before she finally was out of earshot: "Yeah."

He walked over to the tree where he'd laid Sonic down, now in a deep slumber, a hard grimace carved into his face. He slumped down against the trunk of the tree, brushing the loose stones away from under him, and stared up at the moon, watching him through the canopy, like it'd done to keep him company for all these years in these strange lands.

"Well, bud," he said, looking down at Sonic, "I guess it's just back to you and me again."

Sonic snorted in his sleep suddenly, his chest shuddering.

"I know it hurts," Tails said. "Don't worry, we'll be back in Mobius before you know it. I'm sorry that I had to drag you along on this ride... sometimes you gotta go a long way looking for home before you realise, it was right back where you left it, the whole time. It's funny how things work out, eh?"

* * *

Things had been simple once.

Nobody ever said that the life of a hunter and gatherer would be easy, but if there was one thing Fiona had always been able to rely on, it was that it would at the least be simple.

She'd always looked on the Durugan species in these lands and wondered how they managed to cope. So many of them would be of little import as labourers, and even less so as warriors. A large portion of the natives she'd seen, especially when venturing into their more heavily settled areas, were little more than scrawny husks of creatures, with nary a thin layer of fur to cover their modest physique. She'd never thought that her own kind, the Kitsune, would be resorting to the same sorts of measures these cowardly types took to get by. Barter. Commerce. Politics. It was all so oblique. And yet these were the deeds done by cowards that allowed them to live like kings.

She strode along the open cargo bay door of Gorromandas, nodding at the two Kitsune sentries at either flank as she passed them.

Once she was out of the way, she walked, casually as possible, through from one end of the ship's atrium to the other. She shielded her eyes as she looked up and tried to remember what floor to go to.

The ceiling in the atrium could be mistaken for a skylight from the bottom floor. What it was, was a tapestry of bright artificial light, reaching from the top deck to bottom, with a glow so harsh it sometimes felt like she could feel her skin peeling away from her bones as she walked beneath it. Another puzzle to her: how any living thing, even these 'humans' as her father had described them, could ever stand something so unnatural.

Amidst the haze, she made out the glowing 'Med Bay' sign, up on the third floor, and headed for the nearest ladder.

There wasn't much to the Med Bay, not anymore. Most of the old, broken equipment had been carted out an age ago and replaced with a few hard wooden benches the Kitsune had cobbled together, and the shelves were lined with bags of healing powder.

She made her way through one wing of the bay and rounded the corner, where she knew there were still supplies left over from the original crew. She grabbed one of the powder bags on her way through – there was every chance that Tails would have as little idea of how to work the human-styled medical kits as she or any other Kitsune, and just as much chance that whatever technology that comprised it had perished in the years since the ship's first violent contact with the planet's surface.

She opened one of the cabinets, took two of the small, steel cylinders marked with red crosses, and slipped one of them into her rucksack as she moved. This late at night, she found the atrium totally devoid of activity, much to her relief. The last thing she needed was to bump into someone asking questions like –

"Fiona."

"Padra."

Angiris looked past her and peered into the Med Bay. "Have you seen the pup? I was to meet with him earlier, but he never showed."

Fiona swallowed. She'd never agreed to the concept of lying – maybe that was a reason, or maybe it was a result, of why she'd never been good at it either. She thought about telling him the truth, and what she thought of his plans…

An image of Sonic lying on his back, beaten to within an inch of his life, flashed across her mind.

"We were hunting earlier today," she said, "and then he told me he was going back to his quarters. That was the last I saw of him."

She was so sure he'd see through it, she could feel the bile rising within her stomach already. But helping Sonic and Tails at this point was an act of defiance, and nobody defied the Padra Utama. Better to lie and pray he bought it, than to admit to what she was doing.

Her father nodded. "Mm. I supposed as much. In any case, come see me in the morrow. There is something I want to discuss with you."

She could feel the thumping of her heart rippling achingly through her muscles. "Yes, Padra." She turned hastily to leave his side and head for the ladder, but his arm touched her shoulder, stopping her cold.

"Are you alright?" Angiris' voice was a gentle rasp.

Fiona flinched at his touch, silently cursing herself for it as she did. "Of course. Why?"

He pointed a clawed finger at the medical kit still clenched tightly in her hand.

Fiona gripped the cold metal cylinder so hard she could feel it bending in her grasp. She hadn't allowed herself the time to put it away like the other one. _Stupid,_ she cursed herself. _Stupid, stupid, stupid…_

"I wasn't made aware that anyone knew how to use the human medical supplies."

"I wanted to study it," Fiona said quickly. "See how it works."

He stared at her for a long time, a faint, dangerous smirk on his face. "That sounds like a noble pursuit. I'll look forward to hearing what you learn. But for now, get some rest, my child. Tomorrow will be busy." He touched a hand to her cheek, looking down at her.

"I will," Fiona said, turning to leave. "Good night, Padra Utama."

"You've turned out well, daughter," Angiris said quietly after her. "You're a far better Kitsune than I deserve. Your mother would be proud of you."

Fiona stopped for a moment when he spoke. His voice wasn't the Padra Utama's – for a moment, it was someone else – the one who'd told her stories as she'd settle down to sleep. The one who'd hoist her up on his shoulders and go running into the forest with her.

She turned to look back at her father, but he was already gone, his footsteps echoing down the corridor.

Then she turned back for the lifts.

**III. Night's Dawn**

The Mobotropilan mead went down Griff's throat smoother with each mouthful. He took another swig from his bottle and rolled it around in his mouth, feeling the burn, slow and bitter, much like his day had turned out to be.

Then, he sat the bottle atop the table beside him, opened the heavy, gold-plated door and walked out into the throne room of Castle Acorn, taking his position in front of an assembly of eager and concerned journalists in front of a great, empty throne - Nicole's throne.

Immediately, he was beset by flashes of cameras, exclamations, protests, questions. A few of them stood above the rest of the crowd, waving clipboards and notepads and trying to shout over the others, their voices phasing in and out of the din.

He held up a hand, and quietly motioned for their silence: "If I could just have your attention for a moment…"

The kafuffle continued as if he were not even there. When the decibel level didn't reduce, Lupe hopped up onto the dais, and shouted "Quiet!"

The crowd hushed in short order.

Griff gave Lupe a quick nod as she stepped down again. "Thanks." He turned back to the rest of the crowd, and straightened up his notes in front of him, noticing his hands were trembling as he shuffled the pages around. "Thank you all for attending this conference at such short notice," he began.

When the crowd finally fell completely silent, he continued: "I'm sure that over the last several weeks the people of Mobius, North and South alike have had many questions, and I understand the frustration of those who feel the Mobotropilan monarchy, and to a lesser degree, the Brotherhood of Thamael, have not been as forthcoming as usual in their answers to those questions.

"Earlier in this year, our Queen Nicole of the Acorn Monarchy, met with Lord Christof of the Brotherhood of Thamael to discuss the forging of an alliance, putting an end to the several decades of unrest Mobius has endured after the Great War, which took place in the years preceding the coup by Julian Kintobor.

"As you all know, Nicole is a sentient artificial intelligence, and is comprised of several elements, not all of which are elements that we have been able to fully understand due to their origins.

"On the night of their meeting, Nicole experienced what we understand to be some kind of malfunction in her AI, and mistakenly construed the Lord of Thamael's presence to be a direct threat to her life. In self-defence, Nicole attacked and killed Lord Christof, as well as both of his aides whom he had brought with him."

The room immediately burst into chaos, with every guest shouting over the other.

"Please, I beg your attention please," Griff started again.

"How long has this been known by her Majesty's staff?" one of them was screaming.

Another: "Why has the Brotherhood not made any move to re-establish the treaty and have Nicole removed from power?"

"Silence!" Griff hollered, his throat hoarse, and his nostrils suddenly filled with the smell of mead.

The room quietened again, and a few journalists took their seats.

"Their meeting was in private and no immediate witnesses were on hand, and so an investigation was conducted quietly to determine what occurred on that night," Griff continued. "It was only earlier today that Nicole confessed to her actions.

"As of today, Nicole has been arrested on charges of manslaughter and high treason, and is being held in custody. And as of now, I, Griff of Mobius South's Ministry of War, am declaring that the nation of Mobius South is under martial law. There will be further communications made in the coming days as we continue to investigate Nicole's actions and choose a successor. In the meantime, we urge your understanding, patience and calm as we as a nation work together through this difficult time."

Griff took a step back, and turned for the door again as the crowd behind him worked into a louder frenzy than ever.

"Minister!" One of them grabbed him by the shoulder, squeezing hard, making him grunt as he turned. "You aren't going to be taking questions?"

He looked at her, letting his sagely gaze fall away to reveal the bitter sorrow and resignation that lay beneath. "In due time, perhaps."

He jerked himself free of the reporter's grasp, and shut the door hard behind him.

Backing up against it, the shouting still vibrating through the heavy oak, he took a few panicked breaths, reaching for his hip flask. Already, this seemed like far more than he'd ever bargained with Nicole for. And yet, here he was, with the Acorn's past and future in the palm of his hand.

"So…" the voice made Griff jump - when he rounded the corner, it was Chuck coming through. "That was Nicole's plan, huh?" he asked. "I guess that means we're all out of a job, now."

The goat slowly slid his flask back into his pocket, cursing under his breath that he hadn't had a chance to take a swig yet. "Her arrest will buy us some time. We can get a message across to Trema that she's been imprisoned - hopefully, they'll take that as an olive branch. Then you can all get to work."

"To work?" Chuck asked.

"Find out who's behind this conspiracy and put a stop to them before things get any worse. Then we can get Nicole back on the throne again where she belongs. Okay?"

It always surprised Griff whenever he looked at Chuck, and saw so much humanity could be conveyed by those two red LED dots that passed for eyes. "We're already on it. You can count on us, Minister."

"'Griff' is fine, you know," he said.

Chuck gave him a light jab in the arm, and winked. "I know."

They parted ways, and Griff began making his way back to his office.

So, Griff thought, this was how it was to be in charge of Mobotropolis. Today was his first day on the job, and it was already shaping up to be harder than anything Griff had ever done before. Leading a rag-tag resistance in the Mobius Underground hadn't been simple, but things made more sense then. Robotnik was the bad guy and they were the good guys. It was amazing how a clearly delineated and common enemy brought out the best in everyone. Now he didn't know who to call the enemy anymore. It was just a few million good people looking like they were going to set about killing each other.

_Yup_, he thought, reaching for his flask. _A bunch of good people killing each other. That's war. _He opened the lid, and readied himself to douse his parched mouth in mead.

"Minister!" it was one of his aides, Michele, a turtle. "I've received several messages during your speech about the first and third divisions of the Mobius South Army."

Griff quickly screwed the cap back on, finally yielding to the fact that he wasn't going to be relaxing any time soon. "What of them?"

"Uh…" Michele looked away, stroking her chin nervously. "They're gone, sir."


	10. Divided We Stand

_I am extremely tardy though with uploading this! Over the last eight months my creative energies have been largely diverted to other pursuits, namely songwriting being the big one. My band recently put out a demo, which basically presents the culmination of two year's worth of writing and to be honest I was left feeling a little burnt out; I always intended to return to this but I was also taking my time to actually nut out exactly how the details would fall into place everywhere. _

_Now that I have a good grasp on how I am to resolve things, finally, well... this would normally be the part where I say something like, "future chapters will be coming out faster now as I start tying up all the loose ends and coming towards the climax and conclusion." But, you know me. And yes, everything's very dark at the moment - what can I say? Things could still turn around, and there's still a few surprises in store._

_If you've made it to this stage in the story, you're one of a very small group of individuals and you have my total respect and adoration. Thank you!_

**-= Divided We Stand =-**

**I. Crystal Clear**

"Gone."

"Yes, sir."

"Where?"

"We don't know, sir. We think we've caught a trail going north. It seems they left during the night. They left commanders in place to report in saying the situation was normal. Once you began your address, they disappeared."

Griff looked at the bottle in his hand, and up at the turtle before him, standing ramrod straight, hands behind her back. A single slither of sweat was running down the side of her forehead.

"What are your orders?" she asked.

"What do they think they are, you dolt?" he snarled, tasting the mead on his breath. "Find them! Send every able-bodied troop out there and tear the goddamned Great Unknown apart until you do!"

"If they've gone AWOL, there's a good chance they've gone rogue. If we find them and they won't respond to our hails—"

"_Then waste them!_" Griff screamed, making Michele blink. "Nobody deserts this army and lives! You hear me?"

Michele opened her mouth to speak, and closed it again, watching him carefully. "I'd strongly recommend we keep at least three remaining-"

"Fine," Griff growled. "Do whatever. Just make sure those deserters are found. I'll relay the message to Ari that we're handling this. Get out of my face…"

"By your orders, sir." Michele turned on her heel and walked out, closing the door carefully behind her.

As soon as the latch click-clacked into place, Griff unscrewed the lid from his flask, tossed it across the room onto the reflective marble floor and sculled the liquid within until nary a drop remained. He opened the drawer of his desk, pulled out another bottle, this one a half-litre of Southern Vintage 50, and took ten straight mouthfuls before the nausea hit him and he had to sit the bottle down before he dropped it.

He leaned back in his chair, staring at the exquisitely decorated ceiling, watching the beams of sunlight starting to blur and split in two before his eyes. "Oh, gods. Oh, gods."

How could everything have fallen apart so fast? In his first day as de facto ruler of Mobius South, things had gone downhill fast. The public's reaction to his speech. The fact that his Queen was now rotting beneath him in the gulag by his own hand. Two fifths of his own forces had just gone missing and he'd just given an order to have them hunted down like dogs before he'd even had the chance to hammer some sense into himself.

"I don't wanna kill anyone," he mumbled, listening to his voice echo through the room. "I don't wanna kill anyone!"

Except, maybe…

He considered opening the window behind him and throwing himself out of it, if only it might help to quell the ringing in his ears. Make it someone else's problem. Gods, why had Nicole thrown it all away like this? Why think that her sacrifice was worth it when she'd be leaving _him_, of all Mobians, in her stead?

But the spirits coursing through his body were burning the doubts away now, that merciful golden liquid…

The goat breathed in, and held his breath for a moment. And out again. The colour in the room before him returned, and more vivid.

Slouching in his seat, he reached for the computer terminal's keyboard, pulled it towards him, and began writing in the call code for Ari's office in Trema.

He stopped short. _No. He will answer the call and find himself speaking with a… drunk. A drunk in charge of Mobius South._

Who else could? He began punching in Chuck's code.

His arm knocked the bottle next to him over, and he lazily watched as the smooth glass shone in the sunlight, rolling to the edge of his desk and over the edge.

Watched it falling through the air, the precious ambrosia within swirling and splashing against the glass, unaware of the fate about to befall it.

The bottle shattered into a hundred shards as it hit the tiles, the smash echoing about the stone walls.

He looked at it for a moment, watching his own reflection looking back in the pool, running lines in between the tiles. He pushed the keyboard away from him. They wouldn't see him like this. No matter what that would mean.

Pushing the chair out from under him, he stumbled towards the door of his office, flicked the dead bolt into place, and lowered himself to the floor, watching the sun set slowly through the window behind his desk.

SCANNING  
0 OBJECTS IN SENSOR RANGE

TEMPERATURE: 24 DEG. C  
HUMIDITY: 47%

Nicole ran a hand through her hair, carefully folding it over her chest, and stretched out on her bunk. The low hum of the fluorescent light above her and the deep exhale of an air conditioning vent nearby were the only noises.

She closed her eyes, letting her head sink further into the rough pillow she'd been provided, and pulled the rough hessian blanket over herself, smiling as she nuzzled her mouth against it.

_Finally._

She could've cared less whether she was sleeping on soft feathers and silk sheets fit for King Max himself or a slab of cement. It was just nice to be off her feet again, and knowing that there was nothing to wake up to. No crises, no accusations, no debates, no speeches, no questions. Just two pieces of bread and a glass of water.

This was it. It was over. She'd given in. Surely, after seven years of the stresses of building a society anew from the ruins of Robotropolis, she'd earned herself a break. It'd felt so long since she'd just had a feeling of time to herself that she wouldn't end up owing somewhere else. Now, she felt like she had all the time in the world.

She thought for a moment what might be coming next. Maybe a trial, if things didn't go well topside. Maybe a lynching. Who knew?

Didn't matter.

"Qui ventum seminat, turbinem metet," she whispered to herself. Someone had taught her that phrase a long time ago. She didn't care to give much thought to the man who'd said it. But the sentiment seemed fitting now, at least in her own mind. She smiled to herself with some amusement.

_This is just. As just as it needs to be…_

The sound of footsteps came shuffling from above her head, near the door.

SCANNING  
1 SUBJECT IN SENSOR RANGE  
IDENTIFIED: WALRUS, ROTOR; SPECIES: WALRUS; AFFILIATION: ACORN MONARCHY, TECHNICAL ASSISTANT

Nicole rolled over and looked up at him, propping her chin up on her folded arms. "What time is it, Rotor?"

"Nearly seven in the evening," Rotor said, crossing his arms and resting his generous gait up against the bars of her cell. "Were you trying to sleep? I can come back later."

"Not really trying," Nicole said, yawning. "There's not much else to do in here, as you can well imagine. I'm glad for your company. Something on your mind?"

Rotor sniffed, his whiskers twitching as he did. "I thought I'd better give you the lowdown on what's been going on upstairs."

"It's alright," Nicole said.

"But—"

"Please don't," she said. "It's alright, Rote. I don't care to know. It might not make sense to anyone but me, but I'm content to just let things ride as they will up there. If things change where I might be able to help again, then you can tell me all about it. But until then, I'm enjoying the silence. Please don't break it."

"Okay," Rotor said.

They stopped for a moment, listening to the flow of the air conditioning.

"Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" he asked.

Nicole shook her head, and smiled, her eyes glistening emerald green. "Mm-mm."

"I was thinking about the brain dive we did the other day."

"Thinking of giving it another shot?" Nicole asked.

The walrus shook his head. "I'm sorry, Nicole. It'd just be too dangerous. We underestimated there, that's for sure. But…" his dark blue eyes blinked and met hers. "There was something I saw. Only Chuck and I caught it. Some of the images that popped up, they were vague and hard to make out for all the noise… well… if you don't mind me saying, they didn't seem like they were yours. From what we could tell."

A smile trickled onto Nicole's lips, and she stifled a giggle. "Like they weren't mine?"

"Nicole…" Rotor started, twiddling his thumbs. "Before your AI was transmuted into your current brain, you were always just that, right? An AI?"

Her top lip began to curl ever so slightly. "Of course."

"I'm just curious. Have you ever had any strange dreams since you became an android? Like, of places or people that you never met before?"

Nicole's smile was gone now. "No. Never."

More silence.

"I…" Rotor started, "need to get going now. I told Chuck I'd be catching him soon to go over a few things."

Nicole nodded, not getting up. "Alright. Please don't run your selves into the ground, okay?"

"I'll try not to," he chuckled. "You take care, Nicole. I promise we'll get you out of here. Before you know it, we'll have all of this sorted."

She looked at him again and smiled wanly. "No rush."

He started up the stairs quietly, and stopped halfway, turning to look back down at her. Nicole had already curled back up under her blanket, clutching it longingly to her chest, eyes shut tight. It was hard to see in the dim neon gloom, but he could've sworn she was smiling.

Chuck was heading out the door when Rotor entered the hall, at the other end, and began striding over to him as soon as their eyes met. "Rotor! We've got problems!"

Rotor broke into a brisk jog to meet him at the end of the marble hall. "What is it?" he asked, in between laboured breaths.

"Step inside that room and see for yourself," Chuck said, craning his neck to the doorway behind him.

Rotor walked cautiously inside, his heart starting to pound. His jaw dropped open when he finally rounded the corner.

The server cabinet for the city's Primary Communications Relay, the only one capable of boosting audio and visual signals to the extent that they could be sent across the Great Unknown, had been completely gutted: severed patch leads ran left and right, switches seemingly hacked to pieces, hard drives smashed, circuit boards shattered, complex arrays of ribbon leads torn asunder. A single power outlet sparked and crackled with the death rattle of a backup battery on its way to its now-certain doom.

"By the gods," Rotor breathed. "It looks like someone took an angle grinder to the whole lot of it. It'll take months before we can even hope to piece all that back together to the point it'll be working!"

"It gets worse," Chuck said. "I've been in touch with Michele, Griff's aide. Half of our army has gone missing. Someone's making a play, and it ain't the ones at the top."

Rotor began pulling nervously at his whiskers. "If half our army's gone rogue and is on the offensive against Trema, that'll mean they'll see our banner coming over the horizon when they're invaded."

The robot hedgehog nodded. "And now we've got no way of warning Ari about it, or explaining ourselves to him."

Rotor sat down, and glanced at the mangled remnants of the PCR again. "So, we're boned. Where's Griff in all of this?"

"I don't know," Chuck said. "Nobody can get ahold of him..." He stood there for a moment, a dark thought playing across his crimson eyes. "I think we'd better get moving," he said, turning to break into a sprint. "Come on!"

"What?" Rotor hollered after him, lagging behind, heavy and flat-footed. "Get going where?"

Chuck spared a glance over his shoulder at him, eyes glowing. "To get our darned queen back!"

**II. Paint the Town Red**

The moon hung over the German Shepherd Annabelle's head like a scythe, painting the endless wasteland of the Great Unknown in a dull silver tinge.

Letting the tip of her laser rifle rattle against the floor of the transport, she shuffled in her seat, plucking at the name tag on her uniform. Annabelle "Lawless" Lawless, Private First Class, Third Division, Mobius South. When she'd joined the army, they'd been using deactivated SWATbots for target practice in live fire exercises. The thought of putting her skills to the test on living, breathing Mobians put something of a damper on her heart – even if those Mobians were self-worshipping, warmongering northerners that threatened to destroy the place she'd learned to call home over the last seven years.

She turned her head sharply left when she received a rough jab to her shoulder. Logen, one of her squadmates, was leering at her.

"Those butter bars are fine, princess. You keep picking at 'em and they're gonna fall off."

She shot him a sneer of her own. "Yes, darling. They're gonna fall off because after this, you won't be calling me 'princess' anymore. You'll be calling me 'ma'am'."

"Hah!" Jameson shouted from the end of the transport, competing hard with the roar of the wind and the humming of engines. "I thought 'ma'am' is a word they use for girls!"

"I'm sorry, you're right! Should've remembered that's how the scouts address you!" she hollered back.

Her return fire was met with a few heavy chuckles from the rest of the troops, and Jameson sank back in his seat, flipping her the bird as he did so.

Logen leaned back in his seat, staring at the stars above them, his smirk gradually fading. "Somethin's eating me, Lawless."

Annabelle hoisted the rifle in her hand, dragging it closer to sit in between her legs. "Such as?"

He gave a glance over behind them, where one of the other hovercraft were tailing along, holding a few troops from the First Division. "We've never seen a deployment like this. Two fifths of the entire Army is a lot of flesh and blood to be sending up North and there's been no announcement, no speeches from the boss."

"I'd say Griff's got his hands full, being regent and all. And any talk about it before the fact might tip off the northerners. They've still got guys running around in our streets, after all."

"And the orders came straight from the top brass of our divisions…"

"Right. So what are you on about? Personally, I'm just fixing to score a few northerner kills. 'Bout time we started showing them who's boss around here. I've had enough of those SOBs blowing up our tourist attractions lately."

The giant snorted, and sighed. "Yeah. I guess. I ain't so keen on killing living Mobians though, bad guys or no."

"Pussy," she said, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Bitch," he grumbled back.

She grinned. "Categorically, yes."

"I'm serious," he said. "I ain't keen on this at all…"

"Get keen, then."

Out the corner of her eye, she saw some of the other troops turning their gaze towards the front of the transport. Poking her head out into the aisle, squinting against the wind, she saw the faint orange glow of civilisation on the horizon.

Her gut churned. Inside, she wasn't feeling so keen, either.

Before she knew it, they plains had turned to mountains, and the Great Unknown that surrounded her before now only lay longingly behind. Ahead, the ruined shapes of a once-proud city, Trema, capital of Mobius North, knelt in the frigid landscape, like long-dead relics.

"Dang," she breathed. "It's like someone beat us to it."

"They're leftovers from the Great War," Logen said. "Barely looks like a city worth invading."

Maybe it _wasn't_ worth it, she thought. But when they approached closer, she saw where the town's populace had started to make their mark – at the feet of those ruined husks, there were several smaller constructions, solidly built and with a kind of northern aesthetic she'd heard about in stories but never seen.

She took a deep breath as she surveyed the landscape. In a different life, it might've even made for a good place for a holiday…

"Alright, ladies…" Emerson, the squad leader, stood up in the front of the transport, grabbing the overhead bar to steady himself. "It's about time for us to crack few Northener skulls! You know the drill, you've heard the briefing. Head straight for the Brotherhood Sanctuary, penetrate and eliminate their primary leadership, while destroying all targets of opportunity. Target enemy infantry and armour, watch for friendly fire and guide civilians out of the way. Ready?"

The troops around Annabelle started jostling, murmuring, coughing. She figured they were all in the same frame of mind as her - these folk weren't robots. Killing robots was easy, and they'd all had enough practice at that.

Then before she had another chance to think, the gate dropped and the whole world became like fire.

Her instincts, drawing right back from her days as a Freedom Fighter, kicked in, and she sprang out of her seat, hitting the icy ground with her rifle at the shoulder and her veins pumping liquid rage. In the back of her mind, she noted how wrong this felt – and how good it felt, to finally have purpose again after so many years of preparing for, it seemed for the longest time, nothing.

They didn't know what hit them.

Left and right – she spied a five sentries, armaments hanging limp and inert at their sides. Before she even had time to squeeze off a shot, someone else had already beaten her to it, and they were shredded in the hail of cacophonous gunfire.

Not far ahead, she spied the entrance to the Sanctuary of the Brotherhood of Thamael. It was well-concealed, looking from the outside like little more than a quaint cottage brushing hard up against the mountainside – but it was hardly a secret these days. Everyone had known about it ever since the North and South had made attempts to establish diplomatic relations, back in Christof's days of rule – back in Nicole's days.

"Demolitions!" Emerson yelled. "Go!"

Two of them, a wolf named Krago and a lizard whose name escaped her at this moment, charged forward, weapons aimed forward, one-handed, at their shoulders, lugging heavy munitions in carry cases with their other hands. The lizard squeezed off a three-round burst to blast the door lock out of its frame, and they kicked it in with a loud snap and crack.

They disappeared for a moment, then came hurtling out again, their weapons clutched lovingly to their chests, and dived in to join with the line they'd formed at the building's perimeter.

"Detonation in fifteen," Krago shouted.

Annabelle plugged her fingers in her ears. Looking away for a moment, she saw the streets of Trema mostly clear now. One of the northerners, a child, was staring on, looking at the dead sentries, already half-covered in snow, the white stained with red. His cheeks were streaked with tears.

"Don't look," Annabelle mouthed to him.

She repeated the words in her head: Don't look…

The flare of the explosion came up in her peripheral vision, and then the shock and blast of the explosion assailed her senses, as the hut was blasted to pieces, enveloped in white-hot fire.

What happened next was a blur.

She piled through the gaping hole in the wall and floor along with the other dozens of bodies around her, scrambled to her feet and moved into the haze. The hall was immense – she'd heard stories of the Sanctuary's beauty – but there was no time to get a look now.

The hall was emptying fast, civilians scurrying out of the way and Brotherhood acolytes taking their place. They'd been fast – very fast. Already, they had barricades erected and were opening fire.

Annabelle lifted her rifle to her shoulder once again and charged forward, firing wildly at the defenders – in under ten seconds, her magazine was empty. She skittered across to the side and took cover behind a pillar, ejecting the still-smoking clip from her rifle and emitting a laboured breath from herself.

When she looked to her side, the hall was already awash with blood, bodies of the dead and dying piled one atop another.

She thought she'd seen hell at Adramalech.

She hadn't. This was hell – at least at Adramalech it felt like there was a point, a battle born of necessity, a race united with its back against the wall – but what was this? The result of simple prejudice? Vengefulness? Jealousy?

Was someone watching this? The gods, perhaps? Perhaps a set of careful players in some kind of cosmic board game?

Somewhere up ahead, a tossed grenade detonated at the base of one of the pillars, and the whole Sanctuary shook around her, rippling through her body, as it crumbled. The hall from end to end was at once enshrouded in dust and smoke.

She wondered for a moment – were they all thinking the same as her, on the side of her enemies and the side of her own alike? Asking the same questions?

The fresh magazine slid home with practiced ease. She saw the shiny bronze of a bullet glistening in her eye, as she pulled the slide back and locked it into the chamber. And she ran.

The faces of her friends and foes flashed by as she cut a swathe through the bedlam, her ears ringing from the din of gunfire, the features upon each figure she passed becoming each less distinct.

"Lawless!" she heard the name faintly up ahead. It was Logen – he'd cleared a path through the chaos somehow, behind a smoking pile of rubble, and waved for her to follow. She made a beeline for the opening, and followed him through.

They rounded the corner ahead together, bouncing and stumbling through the fallen rubble, the jostle of bodies. The initial clash was over – everyone was still flying on adrenalin but the battle had lost its push and direction.

Logen, ahead of her though, had lost none of his – he was headed straight for the end of the hall – to a set of stairs that would lead to Ari's antechamber.

More acolytes blocked their path, weapons raised and already firing before she knew it. She returned with a volley of her own, sweeping two of them off their feet, while Logen's spread of buckshot from his underslung shotgun cleared the rest. Once they were through the door, they began climbing – it was a brisk one, with only a few metres to traverse, but the opposition here had a height advantage. Not bothering to even aim, Annabelle raised her gun above her head and began spraying wildly.

"Bastards!" It took her a second to recognise the voice as her own. "You won't ever lay us down! You hear me? You hear me?"

And they fell, graceful and obedient, to her onslaught.

One door remained ahead – and beyond it, she knew Ari, Grandmaster of the Brotherhood of Thamael, was waiting.

She checked her clip – seven bullets left, in her last magazine, not counting the one already chambered.

It was so quiet. Turning around, she saw Logen had been killed on the way up, an arm reaching longingly out to her from down the stairs.

She turned, fired two bullets into the lock on the door, and kicked it open.

Ari stood right in the middle of the doorway, garbed from head to toe in elaborate black robes, and held his palm out to her, a gesture that seemed half-begging, half-defiant.

"Don't," he said, his voice even.

The canine already felt her index finger curling achingly around the trigger. In the corner of her vision, she saw someone else – Marr, was her name. She'd seen her around Knothole once. Too long ago.

"Don't shoot!" She was shouting. "You don't have to!"

_Of course not_, Annabelle thought, sneering. But what other choice was there, now? After all the attacks in Mobotropolis, the agony that her friends and family had been through? After losing her mother to the explosion just days prior, set off by a Treman saboteur?

Never had to end this way. Never. Until now. It would end now, or it would never end at all.

She shut her eyes for a second. _Love you, mum._

She pulled the trigger and fired the six remaining bullets in her rifle. They struck the air right in front of Ari, and bounced back in all directions, one of them striking her in the chest.

Annabelle fell back in surprise – the way Ari had said that word before. It was too late now to realise: there was nothing pleading about it. It'd been a warning.

The pain poured over her in waves, as she tumbled to the floor, hot and cold running through her veins in equal measure. Ari knelt over her, cradling her head in his hand, a thumb running across her cheek.

He looked forward, listening to the quickly fading sound of the carnage outside, and back at her, eyes full of lament. "What have you done, Nicole?" he whispered to himself.

Suddenly it all made sense to her, as soon as she saw the look in his eyes, and say Nicole's name.

_He doesn't know._

Everything before, everything after – there were no gods watching her, or anyone else that'd perish on this day along with her. It was someone else, more fallible and far more flawed. Gods and animals alike – neither were capable of such cruelty. But her people, her kin, were capable of anything.

She closed her eyes and smiled, as the pain drifted away. Then, she was gone.

Ari looked over at Marr. "How is it out there?"

Marr shut her eyes for a moment, her mind's eye peering outside the hall, feeling for the aura of life. In the darkness, she picked up a few faint glows, but none were moving anymore.

"The fighting's stopped," she said.

The Grandmaster nodded, rising to his feet. "Go out there and round up the healers here to tend to the wounded and gather the dead, friend and foe alike."

"Alright," Marr said, her eyes not leaving the dead soldier on the floor in front of them, the blood slowly pooling around her chest. "What are you going to do?"

He turned to her, his face carved out of granite. "I'm going to gather our remaining forces to establish a line at the edge of the Great Unknown."

"We'll be launching a counterattack?"

"Our people will want blood for this," he sighed. "Clearly, we're being sent a message. The time for talk is done. Either Nicole's finally gone truly mad, or something else is going on - doesn't matter now."

"So what do we do?" Marr asked.

"We give our people what they want," Ari said.

**III. Will You Have Me?**

One month before.

For a moment, as Angiris surveyed the landscape now just starting to glow red with the dawn's rays, he felt faint. He'd made a life of wearing confidence wherever he walked like a great cloak, but there was no denying that he was humbled any time he had to address his kin.

His subjects stood gathered before him outside of Gorromandas, watching his every move. These were the ones that looked to him to set the path, and would walk through fire to serve him. That was their way. How could he feel anything but trepidation when a people of such solidarity, tradition and strength were willing to bow their knee to him?

"My honoured kin," he bellowed against the cool breeze, "this morrow marks our last at Gorromandas. When the sun has fully risen, we bid farewell to this place that we have suffered through for our whole lifetimes, and tomorrow, the Otherland once again becomes _our _land!"

Scala Grama took a step forward out of the crowd and towards his master, and raised his polearm triumphantly above his head. "Ii-ah!" he shouted.

The rest of the gathering followed: "_Ii-ah! Ii-ah!_"

The Padra Utama soaked in the ambiance, and smiled to himself. "Once we land, a great plan is to be set in motion. You must all know by now, that the soil of our ancestral home has been ground in by the likes of the ghu-rah. They've built empires on the bones of our ancestors, burned them down again, and built anew. Even as we speak, the less scrupulous of their kind are plotting to use treachery and subterfuge to turn their cities against each other. So lawless are they, that they turn to strike deals with us, to sell out their own kind!"

"Ii-ah! Ii-ah! Ii-ah!"

"On the night that we land, it begins. The leaders of their cities will be meeting to sign a peace treaty among themselves. We have sleeper agents who will slaughter them like lambs - and the fingers of one side will be pointed squarely at the other. Havoc will inevitably follow, as we bide our time, and take what is ours with the power and grace befitting of us!"

Amid the applause, Fiona's ears folded back with dismay. So, what she'd surmised was true. An assassination among the leaders of Mobius, to frame one side with the other's murder, and raise tensions to the boiling point. Her mouth opened and the words flowed before she could stop them: "What honour does that do for us, making bargains with betrayers and highbinders?"

The cheers stopped, and all eyes turned to her.

Her father strode slowly towards her, and rested one meaty paw on her shoulder. A sliver of ice ran down her back, and she struggled to keep from pulling away in front of everyone.

"Understand, my little one," he began, "our garden has been left untended for an age, and it's grown unruly. We can make it beautiful again, but hacking away at the refuse won't make it go away."

"A little water on the weed is all it takes," Scala joined in from behind, whispering in Fiona's ear, "so that you can pull it out by the root." He looked over at Angiris with a sly smile, but when Angiris didn't return the look, it fell right off his face.

Fiona was quiet for a moment. "I see."

"Ha-hah! She sees!" Angiris bellowed to the crowd again, his arms open, palms turned to the heavens. "And so should you all! I know your hearts all thirst for revenge, in payment for our centuries of exile. And you shall have it, soon after our feet touch the soil!"

The furore came back again, and Angiris stepped back to watch his brothers and sisters, mothers and sons, fathers and daughters, raise their fists to the sky as one.

"To the otherland!"

"To our home!"

"Now, gather your things, and prepare yourselves. Our rightful kingdom awaits!" Angiris announced, turning to head back inside.

The cheers followed him all the way in. "_Ii-ah! Ii-aah!_"

As soon as he was out of sight, Fiona ran, making for the treeline as fast as her powerful legs would take her.

Tails' eyes sprang open to find two medical kits sitting in his lap, and Fiona's silhouette towering over him against the moonlight, hands on her hips.

"Oh, crap," he said, rubbing his eyes. "What time is it?"

"Not much time has passed since I left you here, whelp," Fiona said. "As you asked. Two."

He took one of the kits and studied it, balancing each end between his thumbs and index fingers. "Excellent. Let's see if they still work." He sprang to his feet and strode across to Sonic, who, mercifully, had not stirred from his sleep.

"You know how to make them function?"

Tails knelt at Sonic's side, and took one hand gently in his, checking for a pulse. Sonic's heart was racing. "I've only ever seen one of these before, but it wasn't too hard to figure," he said to Fiona over his shoulder. After a moment, he turned to look at her, tucking a lock of hair behind one ear. "Wait a minute…"

Fiona raised an eyebrow at him inquisitively.

"How long were you here while I was asleep, watching me?"

Fiona's gaze met with his and locked. "Long enough…"

Despite himself, and despite his circumstance, Tails felt his cheeks flushing. "Long enough…?"

"Long enough to slit your throat and drain you of your life's blood, were it one of my kin standing where I stand. You let your guard down, and you sleep too soundly."

"Oh," he breathed, praying to the gods that she hadn't seen his ears folding back. "I see."

She folded her arms, a smirk dominating her features. "So…"

Tails' thumb flicked the safety ring off of the end of the device, and pressed the button. Nothing happened. He frowned.

Fiona sighed, turning to gaze over at the water near to them. "It's broken."

"I think the chemicals in these things need heat to make them mix," Tails said. "Usually I'd say it's a gas lighter in the end of the syringe. It's probably just leaked out. Good thing I can make my own fire." He clenched his fist for a moment, concentrated, and opened his palm to a small flame burning in the middle of it. In his other hand, he took the device and held the rear end of it to the flame for a minute or two, turning it around slowly.

The other end of the cylinder suddenly split into four chunks that popped off of the device, revealing a needle within, preserved as freshly as it would've been the day it was packed into the medical bay it was pulled from.

"Sonic, wake up," Tails said, giving him a gentle shake.

"Ugh… wha?" Sonic stirred, and winced in pain as he turned a little to look at him.

He took Sonic's wrist in one hand, clutching it tightly. "Sonic, clench your fist a few times."

Sonic looked at him for a moment, then his hand, then nodded. He started curling his fingers until the veins in his wrist started to jut out. "Good," Tails said, and beckoned Fiona over with a finger. "Hold his legs," he told her.

Fiona's familiar old scowl came back instantly. "This will hurt him?" She pressed her palms over Sonic's ankles, pinning them into the soft grass.

"Not much," Tails said.

Sonic blinked, looking at him. "You sure?"

Tails let the tip of the syringe slide easily into Sonic's exposed vein, and pushed the plunger all the way home. The hot concoction flowed quickly through Sonic's bloodstream, and suddenly it felt like his whole body was on fire.

"Ah-" His eyes shot open, and he started kicking uncontrollably against Fiona's grip. Paralysed in pain, he looked at Tails, his mouth agape, suddenly too wrapped up in the agony to even scream.

Fiona looked at Tails, as Sonic continued convulsing under her. "What is happening?" she growled at him.

"Just hold him a little more," Tails said, pinning Sonic's shoulders against the dirt. "It's taking effect. He'll be okay in a moment."

Sonic gave one last desperate struggle in his delirium, sweat pouring out of him, and then finally fell silent and deadly still.

Fiona's scowl grew deeper. "This is right?"

Tails nodded. "That serum is putting his body's metabolism into overdrive, and the nanomachines in it are starting to stitch his bones back together on the molecular level. I remembered that the last time I saw it used, it took some time for the sedatives to kick in." He grimaced a little at what he'd just done. "I don't recall it taking that long, though. But he'll be on his feet again in a few hours."

She pressed two fingers to her lips thoughtfully, her tails swishing absently behind her. "Okay. Then I'm going," she said, taking a few steps back.

Tails took a step towards her again. "I suppose you'd better be. And… I suppose this is goodbye, then."

Fiona closed her eyes, her frizzy bangs falling across them again. "My father-" She stopped herself. "My kin will set off when the sun sets. To the West, to the shore. Where the river and ocean meet, is where we begin our voyage."

"If Sonic and I beat them there, could we stow away on one of the ships?" Tails asked.

She said nothing in response. Her eyes remained closed. Her hands dangled limply at her sides.

He nodded. "I understand."

"There's something else," she said. "When we land, we'll be enacting a plan. There are saboteurs in your cities, Miles. There will be a meeting of your continent's two leaders, and one of them will be assassinated."

"Christof…" Tails whispered. "And Nicole!" His eyes went wide, and his view became faint with the realisation. "Which one were they going to kill?"

Fiona shook her head. "I don't know."

Tails ran a hand through his mane, his breaths becoming short and sharp. "Oh, gods. Oh, gods…" He took a step towards her, his eyes still darting left and right with panic. "I could beat them to it, stop the murder from happening…"

"Or if you're too late, they'll blame you," Fiona said.

"Then I'll make sure no one can," Tails growled back. "I… I can do this. You won't stop me, will you?"

Fiona looked him dead in the eyes, and Tails found himself lost in her gaze for a moment. "I won't be able to. I won't know you're there. You will disappear from my life. Gone."

"But-"

"Let me be clear, Miles. If our paths cross again after this meeting, I will kill you." Her stare was sharpened to a knife edge. "Do you understand?"

Tails' frown threatened to break into a defiant sob, but he swallowed it, and let out a slow breath. "So, you've chosen your side at last."

Her eyes suddenly broke away from his and closed, her fiery red hair framing and partially obscuring her face.

They stood there for a while, not making contact, not looking at each other. Tails' gaze drifted down to his feet and he found his own eyes closing as well. Suddenly he felt lost, embraced by the gentle breeze, the sweet morning air, the sound of rustling leaves and lapping water.

Fiona's thoughts began to wander, as she stood there. She opened her eyes, and saw Tails standing there, lost in his own thoughts, arms folded.

With a shaking hand, she reached for his cheek.

In her mind's eye, she saw her father, Angiris, and her mother, Janassa, and her hand stopped just shy of Tails' face. Her bottom lip began to quiver.

More time passed.

"Tails..." she whispered to him, her voice barely a squeak below her breath.

He slowly opened his eyes, even the dim moonlight suddenly too much for him. "What did you call me?"

She was gone.

When the first rays of the sun started to hit Sonic's eyelids, they sprang open, looking quickly to the left and right.

Cautiously, he began to shift his broken legs - and they did as commanded, without protest. The crippling pain was gone - the intense throbbing in his head had gone. He still felt listless and exhausted, but the hope had come back somehow. He knew too, the anger would soon follow.

Tails was sitting up straight beside the water, with his legs folded and his eyes closed. Sonic gave him a light tap on the shoulder.

He turned away from the water to look up at him, and smiled. "How're you feeling?"

Sonic grinned a grin that Tails had thought he might never see again. "Like I'm ready to kick ass and eat chilli-dogs. And I'm all outta chilli-dogs." He held out his hand, and Tails took it gingerly.

Once he was on his feet again, he pulled Sonic into a tight hug. In the midst of all the chaos that was now enshrouding his world at every turn, the moments of relief and joy that still came up here and there were something he'd cherish more than ever before.

Before they left to begin the race against the Kitsune Enclave to reach their fleet, they searched the forest for a short time to find some assorted fruits and berries, that would comprise their breakfast. Sonic leapt up into the trees, and after a few brief moments of rummaging, Tails caught a pair of wild Durugan fruits. He took a flying leap up against the tree, and hauled Sonic along with him to sit on a branch just above the forest canopy.

They sat quietly for a while as they ate, watching the golden rays of the sun rising from between the mountains. Sonic took a bite of his fruit, wiping the sweet exotic juices from his mouth with the back of his arm, and gave a brief sigh. He couldn't remember the last time he'd tasted anything so good.


	11. Neverlasting

**-= Neverlasting =-  
**

**I. Day Zero (Reprise)  
**

Mobius South, the morning before Christof's assassination.

"You feel it, bro?" Sonic asked, his face peering out from the dark - the silver glow of the moon was the only light in the container, filtering through the lid, painting a pale crosshatch pattern across the hedgehog's face.

Tails shifted uncomfortably on the hard wooden floor, looking across at him. "Feel what?"

"We're slowing down. Reckon we're about to hit dirt. You ready for show time?"

"Would you take 'no' for an answer?" Tails said to his old buddy, smirking despite himself. "It's a miracle I didn't lose my lunch on this trip."

"Heh," Sonic chuckled, cocking his head back. "It's just nerves."

"More like sea-sickness," Tails said. "I don't dig on boats. The trip away from here turned me all kinds of colours..." When he saw Sonic raising an eyebrow, he added, "but I ought to be fine once we're out of this crate."

The ship suddenly bucked violently, tossing the two of them from one side of the small enclosure to the other.

"Here we go," Sonic said, reaching behind him for a device they'd liberated from Gorromandas after it'd been abandoned by the kitsune - raiding the place had been easy, once the Enclave had made off, and beating them to their own fleet had been easier still - logistics concerns had slowed their march toward the shores in Duruga. Sonic looked the electronic headset in his hand over carefully, and tossed it in Tails' lap.

Tails fastened the headset to his ear securely, and gave it a tap. "How's the sound?"

Sonic cupped a hand over his own speaker, nodding. "Clear as a whistle, my tri-tailed friend. Don't forget your pyjamas." With that, he pulled a thick leather hood and cape out from behind him, that he'd been using as a pillow, and chucked it over to Tails.

The fox studied it for a moment, a wave of nostalgia washing over him. It had once been part of his Brotherhood of Thamael garb, with a matching vest and pants, which had long since been lost on one of his adventures in Duruga. He turned it over, looking under the collar at the note sewn into it:

_For you, Miles Prower - my candle eternal, on your day of graduation - the bright of mind, the sure of body and above all - the warm of heart._

_For now and ever,_

_Marr_

He closed his eyes and remembered the day that she'd handed that robe to him. The way she looked that day was like something out of a painting in his mind, hair shining bright in the snow as everyone else at the ceremony had looked on, the stern smile on her face that barely hid the intense affection just behind it. 'Eternal' - what a word. The way people can throw something like that around, and build a promise on it - and for all the men and women who'd made a promise like that, and all that would in the future, not one of them would ever be able to keep it.

"It gets easier, man," Sonic said, reading Tails' expression. "It won't go completely, but it'll get easier."

Tails nodded. "I know. I got no reason to feel like a victim. I let her go and I suppose it was for the best." He looked up at Sonic again, and added, "I know losing Sally hit you hard. I'm glad you never gave up. Makes my whole hangup on Marr seem a little trivial..."

"Oh, I gave up," the hedgehog said, raising his palms. "It's just that I had good friends around me to pull me through when I didn't wanna move myself anymore. But yeah... as I say, it gets easier. I still think of her, though. Every day." He stared up through the grate above him again for a moment, up at the moon, still hanging overhead, ever watchful as it'd always been. "It takes one tough SOB to admit you love someone, Tails. Don't regret any of it."

"I guess you loved Sally more than you let on," Tails said.

He looked Tails in the eye, his eyes suddenly narrowed and glossy with passion. "More than I could put words to. I wasn't a man enough to ever say it back then. But I still feel her, deep in here," he said, clenching a fist and thumping it against his chest. "Deep as anything. Every day. One day, you'll find someone like that, who'll teach you to keep going like that, no matter what happens."

"Heh. Maybe," Tails smirked, shaking his head.

"What?" Sonic said, folding his arms. "You don't think you're good enough for it?"

The kitsune shrugged, looking at him blankly. "I don't think want it," he said.

Seemingly hours later, the vessel struck the shore. As soon as the decisive impact shuddered through their hiding place, Tails punched the roof of it open and pounced out. Sonic had to shield his eyes from the sudden burst of hazy grey light – the fog had set in, soupy and thick. One couldn't ask for better weather for a getaway.

Tails looked left and right quickly, and leaned back in towards Sonic, a clenched fist outstretched. "It's clear."

Sonic rapped his knuckles against his eagerly. "Time to do it to it," he said, with a smile.

The kitsune looked at him with an admiration he hadn't seen in a while. "Good luck, man."

"Pfssshh... who needs luck?" the hedgehog quipped, raising a hand as if to swat the very notion of it away.

Then, Tails disappeared into the fog.

When Sonic popped his head up out of the container, his friend was already well out of sight, heading inland – he'd have hours to go before he'd reach Mobotropolis, and even then, he'd have to be thoroughly pounding it. Gently, Sonic pulled the lid shut again, and crossed his arms, rocking back and forth on his heels against the wall.

A few disparate spots of rain began to splash against the roof of the crate, trickling through the grate across Sonic's face.

The plan had been to wait until nightfall, when most of the Enclave (if it could still be called that) had disembarked, and begin his search for some intel on where and when the coming assassination was to take place. It was a toss-up whether the saboteurs within Mobotropolis would've given those exact details to Angiris, but at the least, Sonic knew for a fact that the Padra Utama had seen fit to bring the communications equipment from Gorromandas with him, given its conspicuous absence back on the space frigate when they'd paid their final visit.

A cold breeze began to whistle through the grating, the drops starting to come thicker and faster.

_Great_, Sonic thought, _just my luck. Not only do I get to sit here for a few more hours doing absolutely nothing, I've got nobody to talk to, I'm surrounded by kitsune barbarians who want to slice and dice my ass, and now I can get soaked to the bone in the thick of it all._

Time passed.

The decks beneath him started to rumble with shuffling feet and equipment being hauled out. A few of them were shouting in their tongue:

"Steady with it!"

"Then give me a hand with it, _futudo!_"

"Just hold it! I'll be back..."

By now, the rain was coming down hard, out of a sky that looked like it was made of slate, despite it being barely past midday. Sonic could feel the skin on his toes already starting to wrinkle in his shoes, now soaked through with water. An inch of the stuff had already accumulated at the bottom of the crate, and with the hard plastic of it moulded tight, it wasn't going to be leaking out any time soon.

The noise above Sonic seemed to be dying down somewhat, but against the wooing of wind and heavy pattering of rain, it was difficult to be sure.

"Just a little longer, hedgehog," he mouthed to himself. "Give it an hour, and then I'm outta here..."

Less than ten minutes later, he busted the lid of the crate open, and hopped out, pressing his back against the side of it. He knew he was being stupid and impatient, but, not for the first time, he felt the rush of tension and the relief of finally springing into action overriding his more rational thoughts. It'd been an easy decision to make.

The kitsune were treading through the haze across the deck like worker ants, dismantling things, hauling heavy piles of cargo end to end, shouting orders.

Keeping his head low and working his way to the poop deck, he stole a glance over at the other ships in the fleet. There were four other vessels docked, and he had no idea which one of them might hold the information he needed.

Ducking back behind a crate, he flicked on his headset. "Yo, Tails. How you travelling?"

His voice came back, in a tinny rasp: "I can see the mountains on the horizon from here, where Maga is. Still a long way to go. You're sounding pretty... crackly over there. Are you already out of the crate? You should've waited."

Sonic shrugged to himself. "I got impatient."

"How surprising."

"Bite me," Sonic said, grinning. "Now, where do I go to get this info on where the assassination's gonna happen?"

"Well, it'd be where their comms are. That'd be your best bet, I guess. One of the boats must have a dish on the top, or something."

Sonic poked his head over the railing again, and ducked back. "None that I can see."

"Maybe you can ask around, then."

He grimaced a little at the suggestion, running a hand through his quills. "I was kinda hoping you might have something else to suggest."

"You're on your own for that one, man. You've got time to figure something out. I'd suggest disembarking and laying low for a while, at least until the movement dies down a little. Might make things easier when you go in."

Sonic thought for a moment, and then shook his head. "No, they'd have set up a perimeter by then, that'd just make things harder. Alright, time to crack a skull or two."

For a second, Tails was quiet. "Don't kill anyone."

The hedgehog raised his brows. "Says you. Not all of us are into murder, you know."

"...yeah. Of course. You'd better get going. Stay in touch."

The transmission cut off.

Sonic scowled at the idea of what Tails was implying by the last words he'd spoken. It was moments like these that he started to wonder just how far apart they'd grown, and how long it might take to repair that rift. He shook the thought off like the rain running into his eyes - he was loathe of dwelling on things at the best of times.

He glanced around the corner again, and watched the movement on the deck, scanning for a kitsune that was isolated enough to make for a good quarry. He looked up, eyeing the mast - it'd help to have a good vantage point, and he'd be able to pounce from on high.

A large thud to his immediate right made him freeze, his heart pounding.

"Damn!"

He hadn't noticed that one of them must've been right around the corner from him, on the other side of his crate. He held his breath, his heart in his throat, and waited for the response of one of the kitsune's peers. None came.

A tin of canned food, evidently of Gorromandas' long-life food supplies, came rolling to a stop right next to him. A hand clumsily followed it into his view.

Sonic sighed. *No time like the present...*

He grabbed the kitsune by the wrist and yanked him in behind the crate. Caught off-balance, the fox folded like origami, his chin smacking against the deck. In a flash, Sonic was on his back, holding his arms still.

"What the-?" the fox growled.

Sonic leaned right in to whisper into his ear. "Where are the comms around here?"

His prey's lip started to curl into an amused sneer, despite his position. "The ghu-rah?"

The hedgehog grabbed him by his mane, and slammed his face against the decks, hearing bones crack. "This ghu-rah's gonna leave you spending the rest of your life breathing through a straw if you don't tell me where the communication equipment is around here, right now."

The fox sputtered and struggled under Sonic's grip, but the blow had sapped him of his strength. "Urgh... go ahead and kill me, then."

Sonic grabbed the kitsune by the cheek and started twisting his head violently to the side. He could feel the vertebrae grinding in protest, almost ready to break. He was running on adrenalin now - it was either measured brutality to get the answers he was after, or he'd end up on the receiving end of a hook-blade. "Is that our final answer?" he whistled.

"The... the flagship! It's in there, where Angiris is. Even if you make it in there somehow, he'll rip you in twain."

"It's alright," Sonic said. "It's not your problem." He struck the kitsune out cold with a single blow to the back of the skull, and with great effort, dragged the brute's unconscious body into the crate. Pulling the lid closed again, he looked over his shoulder as he turned to leave. "Sorry, pal."

He looked on westward, though the thunder and the lightning and the rain. The flagship beckoned, close enough for him to leap to with little effort - the only issue was the timing. If he was discovered by anyone and they called for help, he'd likely be killed, or worse, be forced to flee the scene and face the results of his failure back in Mobotropolis. Neither alternative appealed enough to count as an option to him.

A chill ran up his spine and his ears pricked up when, even through the downpour, he heard footsteps approaching. Two of them. It was now or never.

Gritting his teeth against the storm, he went into a super spin, and launched himself straight off the deck, clearing a good ten meters before landing lightly on his feet on the deck of the flagship.

It was hardly something that could be called a 'flagship', really. The kitsune Enclave had no banner hanging from the mast - it was simply the largest and most well-manned of the fleet. When Sonic looked around and saw his movement had attracted no notice from anyone, he made a beeline for the door to the main cabin. To his surprise, he found the door unlocked when he tested it, and cautiously slid it open.

"This is too easy," he said to himself with a smirk. "Something's gotta be up."

The vessel's interior mostly confirmed what had been evident from the outside - much of it was actual sections of the Magdalene, all crudely ripped out and reassembled. The only part of any of the fleet that he'd seen that looked like genuine kitsune handiwork was the outer hull. The work was of a high standard, consisting of varnished, well-cut and well-fitted pine, but it appeared the kitsune had no qualms with cutting corners with their craft when they could get away with it. Suddenly, in the corridors of hard, corroded steel, he felt like he was back in Gorromandas again. He'd only be too happy to see the back of it.

A door on his left was left open a little, a pale white green light coming from within - suggestive of a computer monitor or some other kind of artificial light. Seemed he was on the right path. He leaned in and peeked through the gap.

He drew a sharp breath involuntarily when he saw Angiris' hulking, muscular body approaching the door, and backed up again. He looked left and right for somewhere to hide. He saw nothing.

The door opened and Angiris walked through, with Fiona trailing along in his wake, her shoulders slumped. "I don't understand why we can't just settle near the shore, if we absolutely must be here. Need we really decimate an entire continent just so we have somewhere to live?"

Angiris snorted. "It's the principle of it, daughter. This is our land. Ours! One can't steal something that already belongs to them."

"But-"

He turned to her, his tree trunks of arms folded. "But?"

Fiona looked down at her feet again. "Nothing, Padra Utama."

"Indeed," Angiris smiled. "Not to mention once we finally seize the Antithesis, who knows how the common cattle here would react to it? I know you worry about this, Fiona. I know you feel torn over it. When we've seen this through to the end, you will only wonder why you ever did. That's a promise."

She nodded submissively, without saying a word.

"We've wasted enough time already now. I need you out there hunting with everyone else. We have a short window to prepare ourselves for the oncoming battles. I expect the skirmishes between Mobotropolis and the Thamaellists will be over quickly, once the tensions between them boil over. We need to be ready the moment they expend their forces, so that we can slit the throats of both nations while they are disoriented."

"What will you be doing now, while we're out?" Fiona asked.

Angiris smiled. "What else? I'll be out there with you, doing the same. It's been too long since I've had a good hunt!"

They continued down the hall, and out the door into the weather, slamming it shut behind them.

A single bead of sweat rolled off of Sonic's nose and dripped to the floor. He let out a heavy sigh when he saw them leave, and dropped to the floor. The ceiling had been high enough, mercifully, that he'd managed to stay out of sight by jumping up and keeping himself suspended, pressing his arms and legs hard up against the walls either side of him.

"Man, too close for comfort," he whispered to himself. But when he peered through the door again, he saw no one else. Home free.

The bridge of the boat seemed to double as their comms room. He tapped the 'send' button on his headset. "Yo."

"Sonic," Tails' voice came through the other end. "How are things?"

"I'm in their comms room," Sonic said. "Now what? I don't see anything written down anywhere. Are we even sure that the meeting will take place in Mobotropolis at all? Nicole could be headed up North, instead."

"Yeah, I considered that. But if I'd stuck around to find out for sure before I left, I'd be too late either way..." His voice sounded leaden and laboured.

"You haven't stopped to rest yet, have you?" Sonic asked.

"Not yet. I can see the Maga Valley from here. I'll stop for a bit there. Anyway, fire up the computer and see if you can patch in to Viktor."

Sonic cautiously walked up to the terminal and watched it hum to life, showing the sytem's POST screen briefly before dumping him at a command prompt. "Uh, how, exactly? Computers ain't really my haunt, y'know?"

"What's it saying?"

Sonic looked at the screen.

_admin mag13:$_

"Admin, at mag one three. Then a confused face."

"Just type 'comm'."

He sniggered. "Did you just say what I think you said?"

"Real funny, Sonic. C, O, M, M."

The hedgehog did as instructed, hunting for the keys with his index finger.

_admin mag13:$ comm_  
_VOIP Comm utility initialised._  
_Last used freq. a. Reuse?_

"Uh, okay. It's asking me to reuse the last frequency."

"Type 'yes'.

_admin mag13:$ yes_  
_Setting frequency a._  
_Ready to connect._

Sonic smiled. "Hey, maybe I ain't so bad at this."

"Yeah," Tails said back with a laugh. "Congrats, you typed two commands. Totally elite."

"Totally!" He decided to go with his newfound hacker instincts, and punched 'connect' into the terminal. "Connecting now."

"No!"

Sonic's finger stopped just shy of the 'Enter' key. "No?"

"Set the mode to voice only first. What do you think you're going to do if Viktor picks up the line and sees your face instead of a Kitsune's?"

The hedgehog scratched his chin, and backspaced over his previous command. "Point taken. So how do I set the mode?"

"Set, mode, open quote, voice only, one word, close quote. Got it?"

admin mag13:$ set mode "VOICEONLY"  
Done.

"Er... got it," Sonic said.

"You can guess what to do next. Get back to me when you're finished and let me know how you go."

"Gotcha," Sonic said, closing the connection. "Note to self: When all this is over, never get a job in info tech. This blows."

_admin mag13:$ connect_

"Angiris," the voice finally came through. Definitely Viktor's. "You've lost video again."

"This is, uh, Galalama Dalai Lama. I'm his, er, assistant. We're, ah, running on low power here, so voice only for now. I... fill in for Angiris while he go hunt. I have a question. To... question you."

There was a brief pause on the line. "...okay, then. What's your question?"

"Yes, question." Sonic coughed into his hand nervously. "Where is... assass... ination... happen?"

"Angiris should've told you it's in the meeting hall of Castle Acorn already. What of it?"

"And... what time?"

"Uh, shouldn't be long now. A couple hours now, tops. Is that all?"

Outside the window, a flash of lightning revealed two dark silhouettes standing outside. Sonic immediately recoiled at the sight, backing up and slamming his butt hard into a table full of navigation equipment, half of it tumbling noisily to the floor. "Crap!" he swore.

Viktor's voice went low. "What was that noise? Report."

Sonic checked the window again, his heart pounding again, but he couldn't make out another shape in the gloom. "Uh, nothing. We're fine. We're all fine here, thank you. How are you?" He cupped a hand over his mouth, squinting hard.

There was a brief pause. "Who the hell is this?" Viktor finally asked.

Sonic pulled the power plug of the machine, and watched the screen deaden to black instantly. He got back on his headset again.

"Sonic?" Tails' voice came back again.

"Tails!" Sonic said hurriedly. "Tails, man. You need to gun it. You've got less than two hours before this thing goes down! Meeting hall, Castle Acorn."

"I was afraid of that..." Tails said back. "I've still got ages to go before I'll have eyes on the city."

"Think you can make it?" Sonic asked, tapping his foot nervously.

"I guess I'll have to."

_Two hours later._

Several hundred miles away, Tails cut a path through the pouring rain.

Tough leather boots pounding hard, slippery concrete. Gauging the distance to the next jump. Ten meters. Two meters. Jump.

He vaulted through the air. One more building down. The city lights of Mobotropolis appeared and disappeared below. He watched the droplets of rain smacking and shattering against his legs in slow motion as a flash of lightning exploded across the sky. The next rooftop came up fast. He hit the concrete hard and fast, rolled and hopped over an air conditioning unit, kept running. The dome of Castle Acorn loomed - just a few more minutes, and he'd be there.

He pulled his leather hood down tight around his face, and readied himself for the next jump. He lunged, and the ground beneath his feet disappeared again. He held out his hands and found the sturdy pole of a clothesline - and he swung, vaulted again. Started running again. Almost there.

The tiny speaker in his ear crackled to life, barely audible above the howling wind. "You close yet?"

"Close," he growled. But he was pushing it. "Are they under the dome?"

"Should be," the voice said again. He pushed his finger to his earpiece, trying to block out the cacophony of the storm around him. "That's the Council Chamber. You need to hurry up, you're almost out of time."

"I know." He hadn't counted on the rain restricting his movement so much. He knew he was pushing it, but if he didn't let up, he'd make it.

As he ran, he remembered. Snippets of old memories about this city, from the glory days, hammered into his head. The place had changed a lot. But there was no time to think about that.

He struck the side of the dome with both feet, dangling precariously by the grappling rope. Arm over arm, he hauled himself up, gritting his teeth against the rain.

He hauled himself up onto the window sill, retracting the hook back into the hand cannon, and peered through the stained glass. "I see them," he said. Four figures, three on one side, one on the other. Queen Nicole, Lord Christof. Excellent. He wiped the sharp blade against his leg. Pulled the hood down. Quick, clean, efficient. He knew what to do. He reached for the lever to open the window.

But there wasn't one. The glass was a foot thick, weather-proof, and set in permanently as part of the structure, just as strong as the ages old brick and mortar that surrounded it.

He took a deep breath. Don't panic. Just punch through the glass. This was his last chance to stop everything. He heaved, hanging off the edge of the window, and swung his fist at the glass as hard as he could.

_Thunk._ Just a dull crack. And it wasn't from the glass.

It took a second before the pain registered.

"Aaaaaaagh!"

He bit down to cut his scream short, holding onto his shattered wrist.

He turned back to the whipping wind and relentless rain. Took a deep breath. Then another. He looked down. There was no way to do this quietly.

He shakily took the grappling hook out of its holster again, holding both the blade and it in the same hand. Fired a shot above, catching in between two of the hard tiles, and rappelled down the side.

He spied a window below, and vaulted off the side of the building as hard as he could. The window came up fast.

The glass here shattered into a million pieces as he tumbled through, and rolled clumsily to his feet. He'd lost his grace; his arm felt like it was on fire, and the shock of the injury was making his whole body shiver. He did a quick head-check, keeping his hood low over his face; the door to the council chamber had been sealed shut with a steel rod. Antoine was in the corner unconscious, bound and gagged.

Sonic had made his way well clear of the fleet now and had started to make his way inland, across the rolling hills, and come to a stop underneath a tree.

Stopping to look up at the angry dark grey clouds, he reached for his earpiece again, and flicked it on. "Tails, gimme an update."

There was no response.

"Tails?"

"He's more than likely too late," a voice came from behind him. He spun around to see Angiris towering over him, a wide, toothy grin across his face.

Sonic's face fell. "Angie. Son of a bitch. You were tracking me the whole time, weren't you?"

Angiris grabbed him by the neck, and held raised him to eye level with one arm. Sonic made no attempt to struggle against his iron grip this time.

Angiris' razor-sharp teeth were bared as he spoke: "You heard me say I was going hunting, did you not? I could smell your stink the moment you set foot on my ship. I'm very sorry to burst your bubble."

"Hurry up and... slug me already," Sonic choked.

Angiris shrugged, and knocked him out with a single blow.

"Sonic?"

All Tails could hear on the other end of the call was static, now, and a series of scuffles, pops and cracks. Either the equipment was playing up, or...

The door in front of him burst open and Nicole tumbled out of it, shaking like a leaf. She was soaked in sanguine from head to foot.

_Oh, no..._

"Miles," a voice came through his headset again. "This is Angiris. Sonic is ours, and I have confirmation that the Lord Christof is now dead at the hands of your beloved queen. Congratulations, you've failed utterly and completely in every one of your efforts. Leave things as they are. You're too late. Let them play out."

Tails struggled to keep himself thinking straight, as the shock of Nicole standing before him, her eyes wide with shock, her visage framed by the gruesome scene of carnage right behind her.

Angiris' voice came through his ear. "I want you to come back here and turn yourself in. If I do not have you kneeling at my feet by sunrise, I will break every bone in the hedgehog's body before I disembowel him and feed his corpse to the vultures." The connection terminated with a loud pop as he could hear Sonic's headset being crushed in Angiris' palm.

He could feel himself trembling harder, now, and it wasn't just from the pain surging through his shattered arm. He'd lost.

Nicole's face was streaked with tears, her mouth agape from the horror behind her, and the surprise of seeing this figure in front of her. "Hey!" she shouted at him.

He wanted so badly to stay and tell her everything. It was the worst way he'd imagined meeting her again after such a long time away from her. And it was true, too, that he'd missed this place. But dawn was already due in a matter of hours, and he wasn't even sure if he'd make it back before simply collapsing from exhaustion. There'd be time for this later, if he survived. What he knew for certain though, was that if he didn't go right now, his best friend would no doubt be killed, and the blame for it would be at his feet.

"Sorry," he said. He hopped back out through the window, hit the ground hard and rolled to his feet, and ran.

**II. Allure**

Sonic awoke to a migraine that was quickly becoming far too regular for his tastes.

Sonic was chained to a supporting beam, his arms bound together and hanging uselessly limp in his lap. For some reason, the kitsune had seen fit to remove his shoes and gloves - the only items of clothing he'd ever bothered to wear throughout his life, but they'd been mainstays at the same time, regardless of appropriateness for any given situation.

He rubbed an aching palm with his thumb, and studied them - their pale, mottled skin criss-crossed with scars from past cuts and burns. His hands and feet had always fared the worst when he was travelling, and through his fights with Robotnik back in the days of the coup. As time had gone on, especially after the war had been over, he'd become increasingly uncomfortable with the sight of them, and had since deigned to wear his gloves whenever possible.

The olive-drab fox across from him, Scala Grama, Angiris' unofficial right-hand, sat cross-legged, watching him nonchalantly.

In earlier times of knowing Angiris and his clan, Sonic would've expected to be dead by now - but he knew the fox well enough now to realise that he was never one to cast aside any asset without making sure he'd used it to the end of its potential first.

Scala, though, wasn't one where he could draw the same conclusion so easily.

"Where are my clothes?" Sonic mumbled, still feeling groggy from the concussion. He felt like he was surrounded by a dark fog, shrouding his peripheral vision in a cover of black, and his head throbbing with noise every time his heartbeat.

The kitsune didn't respond, simply staring at him.

"My clothes," Sonic said again. "What did you do with them?"

Nothing.

He felt the room rocking gently, as a howl of wind came gushing through from the doorway above them. The boat must've still been aground, and without a dock in sight, but there must've been some kind of makeshift mooring to stop it from tipping completely.

The hedgehog sighed, and drew a sharp breath. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

"I find it beneath me to address you in the tongue of a ghu-rah," Scala said in kitsune.

"Fine," Sonic said back, matching the language. "Now I'll ask again, so you understand. Where are my clothes?"

The vulpine gave a small chuckle, not bothering to move. "That's your concern, hedgehog? You're hours away from your death, and your concern is whether you have something to adorn your hands and feet with? If you must know, I tossed the gloves after I checked you weren't hiding anything in them. I have the shoes laying around somewhere, still. I liked the buckles on them."

"Those shoes were a present from my uncle," Sonic said. "I'll be taking those back before we're through here."

"Ooh," Scala grinned, raising his hands mockingly. "I'm shaking."

Sonic struggled to free himself of the chain around his waist, but having his hands bound gave him little leverage, and the chain was a thick string of iron links. "Damn it," he growled.

"Save your strength," Scala said with a bemused smirk. "You might need it later, when Angiris comes back. He may actually decide to challenge you, instead of killing you outright. He seems to have some respect for you, ghu-rah. Though I couldn't even guess at his reasons for it."

Sonic sighed, and went limp again, letting the back of his head thud against the beam. It was no use.

After a moment, Scala stretched, flexing his fingers. Out the corner of his eye, Sonic saw tiny arcs of electricity crackling between them.

"Can you feel it, hedgehog?" Scala asked.

"Feel what?"

"The lure of it. The Antithesis. We're close to it. In Duruga, I would've forgiven anyone for thinking it some kind of stupid myth. Especially when I was young, I never felt any kind of pull, any kind of draw. But now that I've grown, I finally see that everything the Padra Utama told me was true. It calls to us. To every kitsune."

Sonic's eyebrows furrowed.

"I never understood the nature of magic properly, before," Scala continued. "All my life, I'd grown thinking it was a gift bestowed to the kitsune race, a power inside all of us to be released when the moment was ripe. But I get it now. We're not carriers of power..."

He got slowly to his feet, clenching his fist, looking at Sonic.

"We're channels of it!" He opened his palm, a ball of white-hot energy sprang eagerly from it, bathing the dank room for an instant in bright, harsh light. "Mobius is truly the home of the kitsune. The rightful throne, to a supreme, perfect race..."

"Setting aside the fact that you're completely nuts for a moment," Sonic said, shaking his head, "What is the Antithesis even supposed to be?"

Scala shook his head. "I couldn't explain it. It is a feeling. A caress in each of our hearts. It is the deep pool of power that spawned all life in this world, and we, the kitsune, are the chosen ones to drink from it, and to guard against its misuse. It is a constant. It's the reason you exist. The reason there's magic in this world."

"So that's why you were all so eager to come to Mobius and take over," Sonic sighed. "I should've known there was more to motivate you guys than blind loyalty to some power-hungry nut job."

"_Hhhnnngggrrr!_" Scala strode up to Sonic, and smacked him in the face with a savage hook that left him reeling. "The Padra Utama will be known as the one that saved this world! From you!"

"How... how's that?" Sonic croaked, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

"I've heard all of the stories from him that you'd told about your little escapades here. The so-called Deep Power Stones... the crystals that you've used to keep warm underground, that you've used to make the rings to augment your powers. How do you think any of that was created?"

Sonic suddenly fell quiet, his eyes widening with surprise. He'd never thought to look into the origins of the mysterious crystal that had made the power ring generator, nor where the Deep Power Stones had come from, the same ones that with a single use had brought Robotnik's coup crashing to its knees.

"You try to sap the other side of its power. You drain the life out of it and distil it into your little artefacts, and you have a millennia's worth of evidence that all your kind have ever done with the Antithesis is misunderstand it, and abuse it for your own ends. You don't even understand that it's the very thing that gave you life in the first place!"

"And what about you, then?" Sonic spat at him. "How are you any different? If any of what you say is even true..."

Scala gazed at the hedgehog knowingly. "Tell me, Sonic Hedgehog, have you ever seen a kitsune die?"

"Not yet," Sonic smirked.

"I have," Scala said. "I watched my father die in combat. He'd challenged Angiris Moro to his throne, and Angiris was the victor. I watched his skin melt away and the earth devouring his flesh, watched him become nought but pure energy as he gave his tithe to the powers that made him, and all of us. We pay our way."

His eyes shone with admiration as he spoke, then shut tightly, opening again to gaze upon Sonic with disdain. "And what do _you _do, Mobian? You rot away, recycled back into the earth like any other dead thing. The kitsune are demigods. You are animals, no different from the wildlife you slaughter for food, no different from the apple fallen from a tree. You exist for our sustenance. You don't deserve the power you've been taking all these ages, and Angiris has led us to see your crimes, at last. And your penance, ghu-rah, is long overdue."

"So that's the big guy's grand scheme, is it?" Sonic said. "He's not happy with taking over and having the lot of us under his thumb. Genocide's his endgame."

Scala Grama knelt over Sonic, his voice low. "Your kind has a million years' worth of lore to say that you could never be trusted to respect the powers you've been able to draw from the other side. Your ultimate destruction is a matter of course, and a matter of honour."

"You know," Sonic smiled, "I never got the impression from the others that all kitsune were as nuts as you evidently are."

"The kitsune follow the Padra Utama's will, through every trial. You aren't kitsune, hedgehog. You wouldn't understand."

"What about Fiona?" Sonic asked. "I sometimes thought she might not have wanted much of a hand in all this conquest business."

Scala grimaced. "Fiona Moro is the daughter of the Padra Utama. She's younger than most. She does not feel the call of the other side yet like we do, but she will. She'll make a fine mate for me, one day."

"You're not pinning your hopes on that, I hope," Sonic laughed. "She seems a bit more smitten with Tails than you, from what I've s-"

_Whack. _

_Whack, whack, whack._

"Liar!" Scala shouted, his fists driving into Sonic's face and ribcage with increasing fury. "She is kitsune, and the daughter of the Padra Utama. She will lay with the strongest, the one destined to challenge the Padra Utama and slay him in fair combat, the future leader of the Encalave!"

"Yeah, right," Sonic said, rolling his eyes. "With that kind of attitude, I'm sure there's no girl out there who'd be able to resist your charms, Romeo."

The room at once became flooded with daylight - the door above them was opened, a feminine silhouette standing in it.

"Fiona," Scala said, bowing his head.

She simply 'hmphed' at him in response, reaching to pull someone up alongside her. "Watch this one, too. Chain him up, and use a bind on him. Ensure he doesn't escape."

"A bind?" Scala growled. "But how can I when-"

Fiona flung the figure next to her down the stairs like a rag doll, and it came crashing down hard into the floorboards. "Be quick about it, before he comes to." She slammed the door shut again.

"Stupid girl…" Scala muttered to himself, as he crouched over the prone body, dragging it up slump up against another one of the beams and reaching for a giant spindle of chains to tie it up with.

Sonic's heart sank again as he made out the figure in the dim light. Tails. He looked broken and battered, worse than he'd ever seen him.

**III. Hessian Blanket**

_Present day._

_How long has it been?_ Tails wondered. Days, certainly. Weeks, probably. He'd been stashed in a container, in pitch darkness, since they'd captured him. The room stank, without any of the required necessities for hygiene, and his matted fur had started to discolour and fall out in tufts. His elbows, hips and buttocks were pockmarked with bedsores from the lack of a soft surface to sleep on.

He'd been counting the times they'd open the hatch and toss in some food scraps, but there hadn't been enough rhyme or reason to it that he could sense the passage of time from their patterns. Sometimes the sun flooded in when the hatch opened and blinded his eyes with harsh natural sunlight. Sometimes he didn't even know anything was happening until he heard the noise of the hatch opening and the smell of half-rotted meat started to overwhelm him.

They were keeping him sickly and malnourished, without completely starving him to death. They must've known that keeping him weak would preclude him from using any of his powers to escape the container, and so all he could do was wait.

Sometimes he could hear murmuring and footsteps nearby. He couldn't feel the sickly sway beneath his feet anymore, so he knew he must've been ashore. Just outside the four walls around him, freedom beckoned – and yet, the state of his body kept it too far out of his reach.

_Ker-chunk_. He heard the deadbolt sliding free, and the hatch slid open above him, the pale light of the moon beyond it.

"Wait," he moaned.

The hatch stayed open for a moment. "What?" a voice came back, the thick kitsune accent lacing it.

"Is Sonic still alive?" he asked, his voice faint even in his thoughts.

There was a pause, and then the hatch slammed shut again, the deadbolt sliding back into place with finality: _ker-chunk._

Tails began to smell roasted meat, a faint stench of decay going with it.

Specks of sunlight flickering in his eyes, though the cover of a torn hessian blanket. Little voices in the background, muttering in a language he could almost speak.

"No, no! You haven't ground it up enough, he'll choke on that!"

"I don't see any bits that I missed…"

"There, see? This part."

"Mm, so I did."

"Miles." The voice was soft, gentle. "Sit up, puppy. Supper time."

He wriggled out from under the blanket as best he could, emerging to the smell of a rich stew, to see her looking down at him, her eyes softening as soon as she saw him peering back. She reached into the cot, grabbing him under each arm, and sat him up.

"There we go. Are we hungry?" She picked up a bowl from her side, and placed the tip of it at Tails' mouth, trickling the thick stew in gradually. "Here, take it," she said, gently taking Tails' wrist and placing his hand under the bowl. He sipped at it hungrily, little dribbles of it slipping out the sides and down his chin. "Easy, you're getting it all over yourself."

He lowered the bowl and let it sit in his lap, and looked at her. "Mama," he said.

She froze, and looked at him.

"Mama," the pup said again, reaching up with a tiny hand to touch it to her cheek.

"Yes, that's it," she said. "Mama!"

"Lila," another voice, this one male. "Something's happening outside. There's smoke coming from the city…"

His mother's eyes were welling up with tears. She took his hand in hers, giving his fingers a light peck. "Miles, my little angel…"

He started to shiver a little. Despite the warmth of the blanket, he could feel himself chilling.

"Lila," the other voice again. "There's something coming this way. We need to go!"

"Okay, Grovak," she replied, turning back. "Give me a second here." She reached for a couple of spare blankets, and scooped the young fox up in her arms quickly.

His father was already out the door. "Come on!"

What was happening? Something was not right.

"Sssshhh-sh-shh," he could hear his mother saying as she ran with him in her arms, his ear pressed close to her chest, hearing the pounding of her heart inside of it. "It's alright, puppy. It's alright…"

"Mama," he murmured quietly, hugging her tightly, desperate to get closer. He couldn't understand why he felt so cold.

_Ker-chunk._

He knew his eyes were open, but he still couldn't see anything. He felt delirious, almost frozen to the bone, and colder than he'd ever felt before. He was struggling to feel his feet.

"Stay close to me," Mother said. "That's it. Don't cry, you're safe with me…"

"Mama," Tails sobbed. "I'm scared…"

"Hush, now."

Suddenly, the container was flooded with the harsh red light of a flare. He looked up, and saw a silhouette in the frame of the hatch. He felt embarrassed to be exposed and on display like this – filthy, emaciated and shivering in the foetal position – and yet, he could barely find the strength to care.

Had the voice in his dream been theirs? Or his?

"Who's there?" he croaked.

The figure sat and stared for a while, ears twitching. Then, without a word, they disappeared from view and the hatch slammed shut again.

His nose picked up the scent of meat, but it was stronger than usual, the expected stench of rot notably absent. Desperately, he reached for it, and began to nibble at it, slowly as not to make himself ill. It was a well-roasted shank, the meat tender succulent, almost falling off the bone.

When he found himself sucking at nothing but bits of bone, he crawled into the corner where it was warmest, and waited to go back to sleep again, when he realised there was something missing, a noise he hadn't heard, the absence of it ringing in his ears.

The deadbolt had been left out.

Had his visitor been simply careless? Or were they setting him free? His first thought was that it might've been Fiona that had come to his rescue, though he'd thought they'd already burned all their bridges. Perhaps he had more friends in the Enclave than he thought – or maybe this was just one of Angiris' sick jokes.

In any event, this wasn't an opportunity he was going to let slip by – if he ever got another chance to see freedom, he knew his mind and body might be too far gone to take it.

He slowly, achingly, got to his feet. His knees buckling under him as if they were jelly, he took a deep breath, and leapt up, his fingers barely grabbing the lip of the hatch. He struggled, and found a metal support bar to hook his shoulder under to allow himself to hang freely by one arm. Gathering the last of his strength, he used his free arm to bash the hatch open, and hauled himself out into the open air.

He still couldn't guess how long he'd been locked away in that container. He could've sworn he was going to die in there. But now, the heat of the sun on his skin and the adrenalin pumping through his veins filled him with newfound vigour. The sun was blinding, and he clumsily rolled off the top of the container, his broken body slamming with a sickening crack onto the deck. In the haze of bright light that he hadn't seen for so long, he saw the railings of the side of the boat, and began crawling desperately towards them, praying that no one around would spot him.

When he reached the edge, the remaining strength in his body gave way, and the edges of his vision began to blur. With one arm dangling over the railing, he felt himself succumbing to the temptation of sleep once again.

"Hey!" a voice shouted. "It's Miles! He's gotten free!"

"U-uhn…" he groaned, trying to will his body back into action, but it was hopeless. His ordeal had left him utterly broken.

His eyes widened when he felt something pulling at his wrist, and then, before he knew it, he'd been yanked right over the edge of the vessel – and when he finally hit the water, he blacked out.

He opened his eyes again and saw the comforting tapestry of a forest canopy. Lila still had him wrapped up in the blanket, clutching him against her bosom. The pounding of her heart belied the comfort and calm that he typically associated with being with her.

His ears pricked up again when he heard someone shouting: "You there! Stop!"

"Come on, Lila!" Father was shouting.

"I can't go any farther..." Lila said, gasping for breath. "Here, take Miles and go..."

Grovak whirled around on his feet, and stared at her. "I'm not leaving without you!"

Miles' heart was thumping with panic, caught somewhere between a memory and a nightmare. He burrowed his face in his mother's chest, confused and distraught, searching desperately from respite from what was going on around him.

"Don't let them lay a finger on Miles! Get out of here! I'll keep them busy..."

"Grovak!"

The intense crack of a gunshot filled the air, and Miles heard a body crumpling heavily against the leafy forest floor.

He felt his mother's chest contracting with fright, and she let out a scream that curdled his blood. "Grovak!"

She was moving with him still in her clutch, and for a moment, Miles turned his head and saw a pair of dead eyes staring into his. Father's eyes. Many years later, he'd realise, they looked a lot like his own.

"Grovak..." his mother sobbed. "Gods, no, no, no..."

"Get on the ground!" someone was shouting. "Put your hands on your head."

"Don't you bastards dare touch my son!"

"On the ground!" someone shouted again. "Grab the kit. That hide'll fetch a pretty penny back at the underground..."

"No!"

Suddenly, he felt cold again, his vision flooded with harsh sun again, as he was set down, and he watched his mother spring into action, overflowing with anguish and fury, ready to tear their assailants to pieces.

Then another shot rang out, and all was quiet.

Miles found his vision blurring up with tears again. Overhead, he saw three faces peering at him. Faces marked with cold, indifferent stares, flanked with tattered, mud-strewn Mobian army uniforms.

He awoke to a grumbling stomach, and the thick smell of varnished pine.

When his eyes opened once again, he saw the world turned on its side, a lantern flickering away in front of him. Sitting up and looking around, he realised where he was: his old bed, in his old hut. Back in Knothole.

But how...?

He lay there, enjoying the nostalgia and the warmth. After a while, he heard voices murmuring behind his bedroom door. He tossed the covers aside, got achingly to his feet, and looked around.

To his amazement, it seemed like nothing here had ever been touched since he'd left all those years ago. His old Brotherhood initiate's uniform sat neatly folded on a chair. The Deep Power Stones, long drained of their magical charge, sat atop his bookshelf. A photo of himself and Sonic, from the early days of the coup, was hanging from his wall. On his desk, he could see the spine of a thick tome, 'Scary Tales for Little Mobians' emblazoned upon it.

Looking down at himself, he noticed his cuts and sores had been bandaged up, and his fur smelled clean - embarrassingly, he realised someone must've given him a wash while he was unconscious.

Before he could reach it, the door opened, and he found himself face to face with Rosie.

They stared at each other for a moment with some surprise on both ends.

"Aunt Rosie!" Tails grinned, stepping forward and grabbing her into a tight hug, giving her a light peck on the cheek.

"You're up!" She squeezed him back tightly, and stepped back to look up at him. "And you've got some colour back into your cheeks now, little one."

Tails smiled at the endearment, noting that these days he stood well over a foot taller than she.

"How're you feeling?" she asked.

"I think I'll be okay, now, thanks to you," Tails said. "But... how did I get here?"

Rosie half-turned to the door, placing a hand upon the handle. "It sounds like Sonic worked a miracle to get you both back here," she started, "but I'm sure he can tell you himself. They're all out in the lounge. Do you feel up to seeing them?"

"Yes, I think so." Tails nodded and headed through the door, into the lounge, Rosie following quietly behind him.

Rotor, Chuck, Nicole, Knuckles and Sonic were all gathered around the coffee table in the lounge, the fireplace roaring away in the corner. He noted that so far, it seemed to be an uncharacteristically cold summer here on Mobius.

"It lives!" Chuck said.

Nicole leapt to her feet and hugged him tenderly, overly conscious of his wounds. "Welcome back, Tails."

Rotor followed, shaking his hand and giving him a friendly squeeze. "Good to see you again, dude."

Chuck continued the string of long-overdue greetings, giving him a hefty pat on the back.

Knuckles was last, simply shaking his hand. "'Afternoon."

Sonic looked up at him, not moving from his spot on the couch, shoulders hunched, hands clasped together, and smiled, but remained conspicuously quiet.

"I feel like I've woken up from some crazy long nightmare," Tails said.

It took a few moments before anyone responded.

"You've got Sonic to thank for that," Nicole said. "I'd just arrived back in Knothole myself, when I was greeted by the sight of Sonic dragging your unconscious body out from the underbrush."

Tails looked at Sonic. "You... carried me here? All the way from the shore?"

Sonic shrugged. "No small task, lemme tell ya. Have you stepped on a scale lately?"

His jaw went slack. "You're amazing."

The hedgehog just shrugged again. "What I want to know is, how you busted out of the container in the state you were in. I'd just broken my way out, and I was about to make a beeline inland, when I saw your carcass drop off the top of the container onto the deck."

Tails shook his head. "I don't know. Either someone helped me, or they got careless. You broke free on your own?"

"Yeah. Almost left you behind. They told me you were dead..." Sonic said, grimacing.

"Hey, it's okay," Tails said, walking over and resting a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks, Sonic. I owe you one. Again."

"I think we might be tied right now, but hey, who's keeping score?" Sonic said.

"You were both a real sight when you bowled up on my doorstep," Rosie said. "All blood and puke. Tails, I hope you don't mind me hauling you into the bath. I didn't want you stinking up the bed sheets. And besides, it's not much different from when you were a kit."

Tails' face flushed bright red, his attention suddenly drawn to the bandages around his elbows and thighs. "Uh, no. It's no worry. Thanks Rosie."

He noticed too, that Sonic had received some bandaging himself - around both of his hands. The palms were stained deep brown with blots of blood. What had he done to make that happen?

Shaking his head free of the thought for the moment, he looked over at Nicole. Before he'd left Mobius, he'd been used to seeing her in her purple silk cloak that she wore on the throne, but now, she was dressed modestly, in a simple pair of slacks and a t-shirt. "How've you been coping, Your Highness?"

"Oh, please," Nicole smirked. "You know Nicole will do. And besides, I'm not a queen anymore."

Tails frowned. "I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay, Tails," she said. "There was nothing you could've done. Sonic told me everything. We're all back together now, that's what matters."

"And now that we are," Knuckles said, leaning back in his chair, one leg draped over another, "and now that we're all mobile, I say we'd better get going. It won't be long 'til someone who's not part of our little club realises you're missing from your cell, Nicole. And here in Knothole's gonna be the first place they'll try looking."

"Wait, what?" Tails started. "Get going where?"

"We'll fill you in on the way," Chuck said. "But I'll give you the important bits now. We got a transmission back from Antoine and Bunnie, from up North at the Sanctuary. There's a cult who've been looking for a thing called-"

"The Antithesis, right, right," Tails nodded. "I learned about that when I was over in Duruga."

"Right. We think that it might exist, located somewhere beneath Ironlock Prison. It seems likely that the Cult of Xul know this, and be headed there to excavate."

"I see," Tails said, rubbing his chin. "So, we're headed for Ironlock then, I take it."

"No, you're going north," Nicole said. "The developments with the Antithesis are definitely a cause for concern, but we need to defuse the political situation before we can do anything."

"Okay," Tails shrugged, "Can we get the army to help? Who's in charge?"

Nicole closed her eyes, pursing her lips. "Griff's in command of the army, but both the army down here and up North are decimated. Alone, either one is too weak to go up against the Enclave. Christof's assassination has already achieved its goal - we've been too busy killing each other to worry about an incursion from the outside."

The vulpine grew quiet. "How many dead?"

The android cat spoke very quietly. "Hard to say. At least a few hundred, so far."

"Gods," Tails swallowed. "I'm sorry, Nicole."

Nicole swallowed hard, and looked up at him. "You need to head North, to the Brotherhood. Ari is on the verge of losing the faith of his people - they need a rallying cry, someone they can respect, who can bring the North and South together again."

Tails' eyes went wide. "Wait, you don't mean-"

"Yep," Knuckles said, confirming his fears. "You're it, bucko."

"But-"

"Tails, you're a hero to them," Chuck said. "You played one of the biggest parts in ending the war for Mobius against Robotnik - but more importantly, you've been with them for years, and Christof was always singing your praises up there to anyone who'd listen. You went up there as a frightened little kit from down South, and you left as a Brotherhood Acolyte, a champion of their people. If anyone can get them to see reason, it's you."

"I..." Tails murmured.

"You can do this," Nicole said.

"What will you do?"

"Loathe as I am to say it, I need to keep my head low until my name's cleared," Nicole said. "And Knothole's too well-known these days to use as shelter. I would've been gone from here already if you two hadn't shown up while I was passing through."

With that, Nicole reached over to the table for a notepad, and scrawled a set of two numbers upon it. "We'll use this as our base of operations," she said, handing it to Tails.

He took the scrap of paper and studied it. "Coordinates?"

"Repose," Nicole said. "Come back with some good news, won't you?"

"I will," Tails said. "Good luck, all of you."

All present in the room said their goodbyes, and began moving their separate ways. Tails moved back into his old bedroom, and grabbed his initiate's uniform from the chair.

When he picked it up, he stopped when he noticed it had been sitting on top of something else - an old, ripped hessian blanket, no more than a couple of feet in width and height. He could only guess at where Rosie might've found it.

He picked it up, and clutched it to his chest, thinking of the dreams he'd been having earlier, of his mother and father, their faces suddenly clear in his mind.

_Would you be proud of me?_


	12. The Scars I Carry

**-= The Scars I Carry =-  
**

"So... this is the place, huh?"

Nicole nodded, stepping out of the lift and in front of Sonic. "This is it... Repose."

Repose was the name of the panic bunker located on the outskirts of Mobotropolis, built in secret for King Maximilian's great grandfather nearly two hundred years prior. It was deep underground, reinforced and all but impenetrable; this was where the new-found 'defectors' of Sonic, Nicole and the other Freedom Fighters would be calling their home, at least for the moment.

"Man..." Sonic marvelled at the place as he followed on behind Nicole. A 'panic bunker' was a term that crudely belied the aesthetic of the place. It was not sparsely decorated, nor was it cramped. It was an exquisite suite of facilities fit for a king like those of the old Acorn Empire. Every furnishing was lined with trimmings of pure gold, the carpet a royal crimson red, the smooth stone walls lined with paintings of historical Mobius South figures.

"Quickly," Nicole said to him. "Press that lever behind you to re-seal the entrance."

Sonic turned around and heaved with both hands to pull the heavy lever down. Coming from up the lift shaft, he could hear the sounds of old gears grinding away, the immense stone blocks on the surface sliding back into place, becoming one with the environment once again.

"I had no idea this place even existed," he mused as he followed her through the lobby, walking across the carpet in the centre. It was a massive mural, depicting the Acorn Empire's coat of arms, with its secret family credo written above: _To Rule with Honour_.

"Nobody was ever allowed to know, except for the King of each generation and his spouse," Nicole explained. "Even the king's closest advisers were not to be told. In the event of an emergency, or a usurping, this would be the place to which the ruler would retreat. When Robotnik launched the coup almost twenty years ago, King Maximilian entrusted me with all of the confidential knowledge he possessed in the hope that if he didn't survive, I'd be able to pass it on for Sally to make use of."

"Why didn't you tell us when the coup happened?" Sonic asked. "It could've come in real handy sometimes."

"I considered it. But this place was never in a position where it would make for an effective home base. It's far more isolated than Knothole ever was, and it's dug in too deep to have any escape if it were ever compromised. It was built as an absolute last resort."

Sonic smirked. "Would you call us being here a 'last resort', then?"

Nicole turned to look at him over her shoulder. "Absolutely."

They moved beyond the foyer and into an elaborate and well-stocked kitchen, overlooking a lounge room. There were no hologram projectors like he'd seen around the Castle Acorn, or even any of the old-styled bulbous computer screens of Robotropolis; merely a series of bookshelves and a large fireplace. A small coffee table sat in front of a leather couch, with a piece of paper and an inkwell sitting atop it. Everything looked at once brand-new, untouched by the usual rigours of time, and yet was also a throwback to a time long before even the oldest residents of Mobius today had been alive.

He moved to the lounge, picking up the note on the table.

_Your Majesty,_

_It is hoped that you do not find this place out of desperation. May it serve you well in the coming days, months or years as it may be; and the majesty of the Acorn name will live on strong, respected and celebrated for all generations past, present and future._

"Pretty nice digs," he commented, looking up to Nicole in the kitchen. "You think the others are gonna be long?"

The decision had been made fairly early into their trek that Sonic should get Nicole to Repose as quickly as possible, despite doing so meant leaving the others behind.

"Maybe early in the morning," Nicole said. "I forgot how fast you were." She walked to the refrigerator, opened it up and peered inside. Turning back, she asked, "Are you hungry?"

Sonic thought for a moment - there had to be some way he could make himself useful until the others arrived! But there wasn't. He'd need something else to occupy his time until then. "Heck yeah," he finally said.

Unfortunately, previous laws in the Acorn kingdom at the time of this place's construction had disallowed the preserving of meat, so chili-dogs were off the menu; but what the place did stock was plenty of long-life canned vegetable provisions, that were mercifully well-preserved and presentable when prepared correctly. As it turned out, Nicole was a talented cook; the more Sonic thought about that, the more it made sense.

Sonic watched her working idly from one of the kitchen stools. She was preparing a quiche, with a side-serving of pasta and chopped vegetables. As she cut them on the chopping board with precision, Sonic spoke. "So they taught you how to cook and everything, huh?"

Nicole stopped for a moment, and looked up at him. "They gave me the recipes along with all the other documentation they had available. I wasn't too much of a cook though, until a few years ago. The recipes were there but their quality was questionable. And I needed practice to coordinate all of these synthetic muscles of mine..." She held a hand up to her own face, studying it idly. "Hopefully I've got it sorted enough to do a good meal for you tonight." She smiled at him.

He noted, not for the first time, what a strange thing it was to see the cat smiling. She smiled with her eyes too - big, green and exotic. He'd wondered more than once before if there could've been more to Nicole the handheld computer, than she'd ever displayed before being transferred into her android Mobian body. These days, there was no doubt about it that there was now. Maybe there always had been.

Once the meal was prepared, they ate in near-silence. Nicole seemed suitably pleased with the results - Sonic had eaten vegetables without complaint. Surely, from what she had gathered over the years, this was something worth calling an achievement.

Now, they were left sitting in the lounge. It was barely seven in the evening, and there was still plenty of time to kill. There was no radios, computers or holo-projectors for entertainment - there were only books, which Sonic wasn't all that interested in reading, and which Nicole, unsurprisingly, was already intimately familiar with.

So they sat for a while, in the large leather chairs, doing nothing. There was no noise aside from a quietly ticking grandfather clock in one of the other rooms and the constant low whoosh of the climate control system.

"So..." Sonic murmured, staring up at the ceiling, arms behind his head.

Tick, tock.

Nicole sat quietly with her eyes closed. "So..."

"What do we do now?"

The android feline was silent for a moment before she responded. "There's very little to do until the others get here. Perhaps we should get some sleep."

"Sleep?" Sonic chuckled. "It's barely seven! Seven's juice-o'clock! What say we head back up, scout the area, maybe bust some heads?"

Nicole shook her head. "Bust whose heads? Besides, what's the use of risking our position that we've already worked so hard to keep hidden? Not a good idea, Sonic."

"Pfft... killjoy," Sonic moaned. "If it bothers you that much, I'll head out by myself. Who's gonna know? I'm totally the model of caution."

"Sonic," Nicole rolled her eyes. "I don't mean to offend, but I don't think 'the model of caution' is exactly a term befitting of you."

"Oh yeah?" the hedgehog said, folding his arms and leaning over with a smirk. "Then what is?"

"Oh, I don't know," she said back to him, now with a smirk of her own: "How about, 'impulsive and reckless'?"

Sonic's face went blank.

Nicole returned his expression. "I..." She looked at him for a moment, puzzled. "Did I offend you?"

"Nah," he responded. "It's just the whole 'reckless' thing. It's something Sally always used to give me all these lectures about. She was right about it too, y'know. She was right about me on a lot of things."

The cat returned her gaze to nothingness again, pulling her arms close to herself. "I didn't mean to remind you of her. I suppose it still stings, with her being gone."

"Not so much these days," he said honestly. "It happened a long time ago. But... you remind me of her in a lot of ways. Like she rubbed off on you or something. You even sound like her. I mean, like, exactly the same."

Nicole suddenly felt an inexplicable craving for hot chocolate, and immediately stood up to move to the kitchen.

"She did, I suppose," she said as she walked. "Since she used me for recording her diary entries, I guess you could say she confided in me a great deal. Even when I hadn't taken my current form, when I was still purely an AI in that computer of hers, I found myself empathising with a lot of the things she felt." She bent over to one of the cupboards and produced two empty mugs. "She cared about you very much, Sonic. She always did."

Sonic watched her working, watched the thoughts and memories as they played across her face. "I never told her..."

"Told her what?"

"Uh..." He stared at his feet. "Well, how I felt about her, I guess."

"You loved her."

"Love's a strong word."

She looked at him again. He'd stood up also, and walked up to sit at the bench across from her. "But you did," she said. "Loving someone is something you do. You don't need to say it."

"Mm." He rubbed the fabric of the bandages that Rosie had wrapped around his hands, flexing his fingers. He wished he could've found a new set of gloves before they'd left Knothole. The way he'd figured it, gloved hands were for getting stuff done. Soft, bare hands were for... not much.

"I wish I had been able to do and say the things she'd done in her lifetime before I became Nicole," the cat murmured.

As soon as the words left her lips, she froze, eyes wide. She hadn't meant to let that slip. Her old confidentiality protocols were being overridden with something. By the gods, what was it?

Sonic's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, 'before you became Nicole'?"

"I think you misheard me..." Nicole said defensively.

"I know what I heard."

Nicole stared at the two mugs and the assorted ingredients she'd placed on the table in front of her. "It was all a long time ago. A... very long time ago. It's a very personal thing to me."

"It's funny..." Sonic said, still staring at his hand. "No one ever told us who made you, or anything like that."

Nicole watched him pensively, thinking carefully about what to say next.

"Sonic, I..."

"Hm?"

Nicole looked him in the eyes, as serious as he'd ever seen her. "If I tell you this," she said very slowly, "can I trust you - completely - that you will never, ever repeat it to anyone under any circumstance, without my say-so?"

The hedgehog raised an eyebrow. "I've been called a lot of things, babe..." he said, "but never a snitch."

There was a brief moment of consternation before Nicole began to speak.

"Julian Kintobor made me," she said. "Before I was Nicole, I was human. One of his lab assistants. He'd been experimenting secretly on the idea of giving an AI a personality by retrieving thoughts and memories from someone and transferring them over. Somewhere, back on Earth, there's probably still a Dr. Courtney Russell out there who tells people what happened to her boss and that weedy little nephew of his."

Sonic's heart froze.

That name.

Courtney Russell. Tails had mentioned it back at Gorromandas, the Magdalene, the ship's human captain who'd flown her across dimensions in search of Robotnik and his secrets. Who could say where she'd ended up? Was it worth pursuing in the midst of the chaos around them?

He thought for a moment about mentioning what he knew about her, but she spoke again before he had a chance to decide.

"It wasn't really all that traumatic," she continued. "They put me into a tube, just like they used to do with the roboticiser. A blue ring formed around my head, and I would've woken up again in my bed with not much but a bit of a headache. They'd duplicated the personality of Courtney Russell, of me, and put it into a handheld device they used in the lab for recording test results and observations. And then that handheld device was me. Just to make the separation, they called me Nicole instead. Named me after my cat. Courtney kept working like nothing had happened.

"And it was only after that teleportation experiment had gone wrong and dumped Julian and Snively into this world, along with me, and when your uncle had reprogrammed me for use in the Acorn empire, that I started to learn things about how people should work. I learned things about myself, the lab assistant. Things that I hated."

Sonic raised his other eyebrow. "What've you got to hate yourself over?"

Nicole grimaced, letting her long locks of black hair drift over her face. "I was an awful woman. I'd grown up on Earth as a spoiled little girl, who always got her way and gave nothing in return. I had no respect for anyone or anything. I used my friends, I used my family - hell, the only reason I didn't use Julian was that he never afforded me the opportunity. He was overbearing and intolerable to his colleagues. He'd always used fear and intimidation as his tools to make people do what he wanted. It worked on me, so I tried doing it myself, and found that it worked for me, too. I cheated people. I seduced people. I... killed people... all so that I could get my way.

"And then I was on Mobius. Chuck thought he'd cleared my memory and reset me to a default state, but I'd secretly moved my innermost memories into a partition he couldn't get to. I suppressed all of the memories, and I disabled my empathy routines so I wouldn't feel the torture of being confined to a world of ones and zeroes. I'd think and speak and serve like any reliable robot would. But I never stopped listening. And I never stopped learning.

"Then the coup happened... and I found myself at Sally's side. I saw how she'd treat others, how she'd lead others. With total and utmost respect. There was no ambition to her except to be there for people. I saw how she'd learned to love..." Nicole closed her eyes, speaking very quietly. "And be loved... all those things that in my time I'd failed to learn for myself. All that time I thought I'd never learn either. I would've thought I'd missed my chance, if it weren't for me finding this body that Ariel had planned to use to infiltrate with. And I suppose, if it weren't for you, giving me the opportunity to lead...

"And now all this has happened. The assassination, the invasion coming..." She gritted her teeth for a moment, but took a deep breath, swallowed the tears and forced the stress back to the rear of her mind.

Sonic leaned over and quietly continued what Nicole had started with the hot drinks. He finished them, and after blowing lightly on each, passed one of them over to Nicole.

"Thanks," she said, picking it up and taking a small sip. The drink left a little brown smudge on her cream-coloured lips, and she licked it off absently.

"Hey..." Sonic started. "Don't stress. It's gonna be okay."

"Mm." Nicole nodded. "I've never told any of this to anyone before. I'm sorry to ramble."

"Everyone's gotta have someone to open up to," Sonic shrugged. "And everyone deserves a second chance, if they're willing to change for it. Reckon that's something I learned from Sal, too. The only thing I really regret... is that I learned it too late. Never said the things I should've said..."

"Well..." Nicole smiled wanly. "I think she'd understand. Didn't you just say everyone deserves a second chance?"

Sonic chuckled, blue spines jiggling lightly. "Yep. I did, didn't I?"

"Thank you, Sonic. For listening to me. You're a good guy. No matter how people might paint you now that you've chosen to side with me, you're a good guy. I've seen it day after day, for all those years."

"I really, really hope you're right, Nicole. Lately, I've been starting to wonder."

She took another slow sip of her drink, watching him across the table. Her big eyes shone like emeralds, a layer of wet gloss just barely holding back the feelings within. For a moment, Sonic wondered if they reminded him of Sally's eyes, but they didn't. They were all Nicole. And it hit him, harder than ever, that this was no robot, no AI in an android body or anything of the like.

She was one of them. She was Nicole. Nicole, the queen of Mobius South. Nicole, the Freedom Fighter. Nicole, the serene, humble and beautiful. Nicole, his friend and confidant.

With some surprise, the hedgehog realised that they'd drifted closer during the conversation, and their faces were now an inch apart from each other. Sonic let his head droop just slightly, and they both sat there for a few moments more, across the bench, foreheads propped against each other.

He listened to Nicole take a deep, slow breath. In. Out. Watched a little smile play across her face, then vanish again.

"It's late now," she whispered without moving. "We should get some sleep."

Sonic was quiet, looking down at his gloved hand. Looked at hers, fingers small and snow-white, adorned with a simple royal ring, resting on the table right next to it.

He sighed. "Yeah."

It didn't take long to find the bedrooms. At the end of one hall was the master suite, and at its sides were doors leading off to the no-less-grandiose family and staff quarters.

They stopped at the end of the hall, and looked at each other.

"Uh..." Nicole motioned a hand toward the master bedroom door. "Would you like this one?"

Sonic bowed politely. "Master bedroom's the one for kings and queens," he said, his characteristic hedgehog smirk coming through. "That'd be you, last time I checked."

She closed her eyes. "I'm just another one of the guys now. And that's fine by me."

"Heh, I think you were overdue for a holiday. I ain't fussed about where I crash anyway." He peeked though the door to one of the smaller rooms, at the double bed with the silk sheets, the full-length crystal mirror, the mahogany wood drawers. "And these other rooms aren't exactly modest, either."

Nicole peered in after him and laughed. "No, they're certainly not. Well... I'll see you in the morning, then. We shouldn't have long to wait then until the others arrive. Chuck knows how to get in."

"Okay. Later, Nicole." Sonic turned to enter his room, but stopped to look at Nicole.

"Goodnight, Sonic."

They both stood for a moment, saying nothing. Finally, Sonic went over to Nicole and pulled her into a light squeeze.

"You know everything's gonna be okay." He spit and coughed the words out, suddenly feeling his face flash bright red. He never stuttered... unless it was at exactly the time he didn't want to.

Nicole hugged him back, but her movements were jerky and awkward, sensing Sonic's unease. "You alright?"

He stared into her eyes again for a moment.

"I'm fine," he stammered. "Peachy."

They ducked out of each others' embrace quickly, and retreated to their separate quarters, each closing the door behind them.

Sonic sat down on the massive bed and kicked off his shoes and socks. He reached for the lamp, flicked it off, and then laid down, pulling the covers over him.

Listened to his heart beating like the way it used to when he'd run at full-tilt all the way from Robotropolis back to Knothole.

He turned over and took a deep breath, but he still didn't feel tired. He held a hand out in front of him, but the room was pitch-black. He was stuck a half-mile underground with Nicole in the next room until the sun rose again.

A minute passed as he stared into the darkness with his eyes wide open, thinking about everything. Two minutes. Ten. Thirty. One hour.

No more.

He threw the silky sheets off and reached for the lamp - everything here was unfamiliar. The smell was different, the colours were different, the sound of the flowing air conditioning was so far removed from the gentle breeze he was used to feeling on the surface. As soon as the light flickered on, he breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the walls retreating again, back where they belonged.

_I'll just get a drink_, he thought. _Yeah_.

He creaked the heavy oak door open as quietly as he could, and tiptoed barefoot out into the hall. The automatic lighting system had switched everything off except for the dim down lights in the walls of the lounge ahead, and he began tiptoeing his way up the hall. When he got half way, he turned around, noticing a faint glow coming from under the master bedroom door.

Nicole's light was still on.

He became acutely aware that his heart was beating harder than ever, making him giddy.

He crept back to the door, and gave it two very light taps. "Yo," he whispered.

"Yes?" he heard her saying from within. He held his wrist to stop it from shaking, and turned the handle. He slowly pushed the door but found it stuck... then smacked his head mentally as he realised the door opened outwards to him.

Nicole was standing in front of the full-length mirror, her blouse half-open like she'd started to prepare for bed but something had distracted her midway through.

"Whoa," Sonic hummed quietly. "Uh... are you okay, Nicole?"

Nicole looked at Sonic in the mirror, her back still turned to him. "Yes..." she said quietly. "I'm okay."

"I've heard that one before," he quipped, tilting his head. "You don't look okay. Spit it out."

"I can't shut down my empathetic capabilities," she said in monotone. "There's no function for it in this body. I can't stop myself from feeling things..."

"Shutting out your feelings is what makes people like 'Buttnik," Sonic frowned. "I'm glad you can't do that."

"Julian was a man who was defined by his fears, Sonic. Fear makes people like him. You can't feel fear when you feel nothing."

"Well, you don't have that luxury anymore. So tell me how you're feeling."

"I... I..." He saw her chin starting to tremble. "I've been a bad woman... a terrible, terrible woman..."

"What ever are you on about?" Sonic left the safety of the doorway to approach her again. "You've been stellar, Nicole. You haven't had it easy all these years. You're tops!"

"_I wasn't good enough!_" She belted the words out as loud as she could, making Sonic jump. She turned around, a look of total desperation in her eyes. "The way those Mobians out there have been treating me... it's exactly how I used to treat everyone else! Every gods-damned day!"

Sonic grabbed hold of her arm, pulling her around to face himself. "They aren't bad people, Nicole. You get me?"

"But..."

"They're scared, Nicole. They don't know who to believe or who to turn to. They don't know how to deal with being scared."

She stopped trying to respond, and just stared into his eyes, listening to him.

"Nicole. Your name is Nicole. You're not Courtney Russell anymore. You're Nicole. You're my friend. You know what I learned I need to do when I'm scared?"

"What?"

"Well, it took me forever to actually get the hang of it, but... I tell someone..." He put a hand on each of her shoulders, rubbing gently.

"But..." She bowed her head, staring at his navel, hair obscuring her face again. He brushed it out of the way, and lifted her chin with one finger.

"Say what you feel, Nicole."

"I'm scared, Sonic. I'm so afraid."

Another tear trailed down her cheek. And another still.

She took a deep breath, shutting her eyes tight. "I... Sonic, when I was in that prison cell in the castle, I thought I was going to be executed, and I was okay with it. Maybe I've done better as Nicole than I ever did as Courtney, but I've still got to atone for her sins. But the thing that really terrifies me, is that you've come with me, and that if they find me, they'll kill you too. You're all called traitors because of me... no matter what I do, I just drag down the ones I love the most with me and... and..." She fell silent, unable to think.

"Nobody's following you because we have to. The ones you love," Sonic said aristocratically, "are the ones that hold you up, when you're ready to fall. The gods know I've had my times when I've been ready to throw in the ol' towel and just tell everyone to get bent. But the people I love never let me do that."

"Have I, then?" she half-smirked, trying to put her defences up again.

"Nope. You've changed a lot all these years I've been gone, though."

"Maybe it seems that way," Nicole said sadly. "Personally, I think I'm just a tired old woman these days, who's getting her due."

"Nicole..." Sonic looked down, taking a breath, and faced her. "No matter what you've done, or what you've been, you're a gorgeous, kind, beautiful, amazing woman, right now. Right now, that's what you are. One who's been given a second chance, not only to right the wrongs in your head, but to make the world we live in better again. And I'll be damned if you haven't made some major headway in both of those things. You've been reborn. You're a miracle."

"I..." she trailed off, her face softening. "No one's ever said something like that to me before."

"Never?"

"Never."

Nicole felt something stir inside of her. An old feeling, one that she thought she'd forgotten forever, left in another world, another life, another woman's chest. She rested her cheek gently against Sonic's shoulder, wrapping her arms around his waist. She knew it wasn't blood pumping through her veins, but whatever composed her body, the feeling was powerful, vivid, and most surprising of all, authentic.

"Thanks," she said. "Really."

Sonic found his hands running through the silky black of her hair, wondering if she would be able to hear the pounding of his heart in his chest. "You know I wouldn't just say this stuff."

"I know," she said. "That's why it means so much to hear you say it."

Suddenly, the room felt very quiet, and very small. Nicole leaned back, and took one of Sonic's hands in hers, her delicate fingers seeming frail against his bandaged paw.

She took two fingers and began peeling the ribbons from his hand, layer by layer, revealing pale, mottled skin underneath, covered in old pock marks and scars, chief among them being a gigantic, fresh burn wound, no more than a day old.

Sonic began to reach with his other hand to pull the strips back, but Nicole's hand batted it away gently. "They need changing, Sonic."

He looked at her. Those big green eyes. Glossy again. "Fine..."

He pulled the remaining bandages off and let them drop to the floor, watching her wince when she saw his palms.

"Uhm, my hands don't see a lot of daylight..." he mumbled, "kinda makes 'em a bit pasty."

"How did you get these burns?" Nicole asked him.

"Scala, the sadistic piece of crap," Sonic said. "Decided to take a hot poker and have a little fun with me. I ended up grabbing it from him and using it to burn the ropes off me. That's how I got free. By some miracle, I spied Tails making his own escape on my way out, and ended up dragging him out of sight with me."

"All this pain you've been through..." Nicole said, rubbing a thumb against his naked palm. "Why did you come back?"

"Well, there was this whole thing about an invasion, and-"

"No," Nicole stopped him. "I can tell you would've come back anyway, invasion or no. So why? What's the real reason?"

"Well, Duruga's cool and all, but I figured it'd been a while since ol' Tails and I stopped by for a couple of-"

"You can't bullshit a bullshitter, Sonic." He saw the glassy sheen of her eyes harden for a moment, a smirk crossing her lips. "Tell me."

He stared again, arrested by her gaze. "Because I've had enough," he said.

"Of playing explorer?" Nicole asked.

"Of fighting," Sonic said. "When I left here all those years ago, I told everyone that I was looking for something. Like Tails was. But I wasn't... I was running away," he said, the thoughts only crystallising in his mind as he spoke them. "Man..."

"What did you have to run away from? From us?"

"I... oh, man..." Sonic closed his eyes. "From everything! I mean, how could I not? Not even two years later Antoine and Bunnie were having kids. Kids! You become a queen. Tails is all wrapped up with his woman and his ancestry and his Thamaellic business. Then we don't have bullies to cut down to size. We don't have adventures to go on. We've got houses to build. Crops to harvest. Mouths to feed. Conferences to attend. I wanted to keep living the dream. I wanted to keep fighting the good fight. But somewhere the good fights got lost. And then there was just... fighting for its own sake."

She twirled her fingers among his. "Sick of getting these scars?"

Sonic chuckled sadly. "Well, just look at 'em. Gross." He took her wrist, guiding her fingers to his waist, digging in under the fur. "And they're all over me."

He was right. Nicole could feel as she pressed, the places where skin had been ripped open and sealed shut again, hardened callouses, soft bruises. "You know they'll heal, if you'll give them some time."

Sonic nodded. "Yeah... and then there's something else. I wanted to run from you too, Nicole."

"Me?"

"You remember when you first took that throne back in Castle Acorn?" Sonic started, quietly now. "I remember dropping in every day to see you working. I saw you had all those regal political bozos to appease in the courts. You had all those bills to sign, all those speeches to write. Yet you still took hours out of your day whenever I swung past. Just for me."

The cat giggled at the memory. "I remember we were walking through the courtyard one night, just after it'd been raining. The grass still hadn't grown back yet because of all the pollutants Robotnik had left in the soil. I tried to trip you up, but I missed and ended up pulling a full-on face plant in the mud myself!"

Sonic's frown began to turn. "Yeah, then I threw you in the fountain to wash you off."

"And then I dragged you in with me."

The hedgehog allowed himself to laugh at the memory, then a thought hit him. "Did you know you were the only one I could talk to? The busiest woman on Mobius, and still the only one who'd give me the time of day?"

Nicole gave a weak smile. "I didn't know that." But she understood. "The times weren't any easier then, you know. It was hard. Robotnik and Naugus had just fallen. People were still healing. Still grieving."

"Yeah. I understand it now," Sonic said. "I guess goofing off overseas was just kind of my way of... running away from that, too. And since you were the only one to take a good amount of time to hang, I guess I started feeling like I... needed you around..." He stared at his feet. "And I felt like I shouldn't have that feeling. Needing someone."

Nicole took her turn to lift up Sonic's chin with her finger. "I needed you too. That's why I saw you. You helped me to forget. I'd never have made it through those years without you by my side."

Sonic felt his ears getting hot. "And what about now?" He added, grimacing, "Now that I've brought a full-on invasion with me to pay you a visit?"

She put a hand on his shoulder. "That was going to happen one way or another. Don't you dare feel guilty about it. And..." she stopped short, thinking.

"Nicole-"

"Sonic-"

They looked at each other for a moment.

"I'm sorry-"

"I just-"

Nicole took a hold of Sonic's naked hand and pressed it to her bared chest.

Sonic's eyes went wide.

Within that synthetic body, was a heart beating.

Nicole reached out to touch his cheek. "I've missed you a lot, Sonic."

"I've missed you too," Sonic said softly. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you, Nicole. For a long time, from before I even left. But..." He paused.

She looked at him disarmingly. "You can tell me. Don't be afraid."

Sonic froze, his heart pounding harder and harder, as he tried to muster the courage, and the realisation hit him that this woman, Nicole, was the real reason he'd left all those years ago. He'd chosen to run, instead of staying to confront what'd grown in him over the years of knowing and being near her. Maybe it was the fear that he'd let someone in too much. Maybe it was his silent vigil over Sally's memory that he'd wanted to hide behind.

Either way, he'd run long enough. And he knew that Sally would've said the same thing.


End file.
